I Wanna Rockin' Roll All Night
by Thaena
Summary: Roy thinks he has placed all the main people in his life in comfortable predictable patterns but he should have realized that predictable can never be applied to Johnny Gage
1. Chapter 1

Like always, nothing about these stories are mine except the ideas. I get nothing from these but the pleasure from the feedback. Here's a short story inspired while listening to the radio and I had a vivid daydream about Johnny. It was so real, I could almost believe I'd watched it. I haven't abandoned my other stories but this light little tale just had to be told for the holiday weekend. Enjoy.

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Roy rolled over and peeled open his eyes. He knew his clock was right in front of him, on the nightstand and he was fairly confident he knew what it said. '_Yeap, right on the dot,_' he mused to himself as he confirmed the clock said 5:25. Once again, he'd awaken five minutes before the alarm. He reached up, canceled the alarm and reached over to kiss his still snoozing wife before he climbed out of bed.

As he climbed into the shower, he couldn't help smiling. '_Right now, Jo is getting out of bed and putting on her robe,_' he chuckled to himself. '_Then she'll wake up Chris and Jenny, remind them of the plans for today, then she'll head down to the kitchen and start breakfast. I bet it'll be French toast since it's Friday_.' He finished his shower and went into his bedroom to get dressed. As he left his bedroom and started down the hall, he took in a deep long breath through his nose. '_Ahhhh, Jo's French toast_.'

He walked into the kitchen and kissed the back of his wife's neck where she bent over the hot iron. He then reached out and snagged the cup of coffee that sat on the table next to a tall glass of orange juice. He took several satisfying sips even as his wife looked up. "Good Morning. Your coffee is …Oh! I see you found it. Well, breakfast will be ready in …."

"Just a few more minutes." He finished with her as he set the coffee back on the table. She looked up at him with a trace of a frown. "Am I that old and predictable?" She asked.

He reached out and pulled her closer to him, "You're not old; you'll never be old. To me you'll always be either that adorable green eyed pigtailed girl I first fell for or that gorgeous auburn beauty in the white dress I married."

She snuggled up against him for a moment but then continued, "But I'm predictable."

He sighed as he grabbed the glass of juice. She watched as he drained it in a few gulps then sat at the table. "You say that like it's a bad thing but it's not. Predictable to me is . . ." he searched for a word then smiled as he found it, "Pleasant."

She pulled the finished toast from the iron and placed it on the plate with the others. Then she took it, the plate with sausages on it and her coffee cup and placed them on the table. She sat herself next to her husband as he forked several slices of the French toast on his plate along with several sausage links. He then poured blueberry syrup over them all and took a big bite. "ummmmm, good."

She watched her husband and smiled at his obvious pleasure but her mind kept coming back to his words. She wasn't sure she liked becoming predictable. To her it felt too much like boring, stuck in a rut, old. She sipped her coffee and sighed.

Roy could tell his words were still upsetting his wife and knew he needed to elaborate. "Jo, look at it from my side. My job is anything but predictable. When the tones go off anything, and sometimes everything, can happen. Many times it happens all at once. There is no such thing as 'normal' on a run. So when it comes to my personal life, whether here or at the station, a set routine is . . . .stabilizing." He smiled.

He could see the affect the words had on his wife by the emotions showing on her face. "Sooooo, stable is good, it's 'predictable'." She smiled to let him know the words were said without rancor. He nodded and happily applied himself to his breakfast as his children swarmed noisily into the room.

'_Ahh, now Chris will take one look at the food and ask his mom for cereal. Jo will tell him this isn't a restaurant. Jenny will grab a piece of toast cut it into fourths and eat it with her fingers while dipping it into syrup on her plate and chattering about what she'll do today.'_

Chris stopped and looked over the food set out and made a face. "Awww Mom. French toast again? Can I have cereal?"

"Does this look like a restaurant, young man? You will eat what is prepared or you can go hungry. Jenny, I want you to eat at least one sausage and please use silverware, that's what it's for."

Chris grumbled as he put two pieces of toast on his plate and covered them with maple syrup. Jenny munched happily on the piece in her hand, occasionally dipping it into the syrup she'd poured on her plate. "Daddy! Guess what? We've got swim lessons at the 'Y' today and the 'structer said I'm doing so good I can 'vance up to Fish class!"

"Fish class? Really? That's great, honey." He told the girl as he took another helping of French toast himself. Blonde bangs bounced into Jenny's blue eyes as she bobbed her head happily. She barely sat in her chair, both her legs swinging wildly under her chair. Bemused, he watched her barely constrained energy and thought, '_Kids have so much energy; where does it all go when we are adults and really need it?_' Then with an internal chuckle he amended that thought, '_Well, most adults. I can't say that my partner fits that axiom_.' He chuckled again as he thought of his dark haired partner, six years his junior. Paramedic/firefighter John Gage might be a grown man, but he had a slender build more like a half-starved teenager and the appetite and energy to match. The man was constantly eating when not on a run and practically ricocheted around the station if they had a slow shift. There had been plenty of times Roy had wished he could've siphoned off some of that vigor for himself.

Before long, both children were finished with breakfast and running off to start their day. Now that things had calmed down, Jo worked on her own breakfast while Roy sat back, contented and full and enjoying another cup of coffee. After chewing a piece of sausage carefully and swallowing, Jo turned to her husband with a thoughtful expression on her face. Roy knew their previous discussion was still on her mind.

"Ok, I can give you that. Your job certainly is unpredictable and I can see where **stability**' she stressed the word strongly and he chuckled, "would be desired. But predictable?" She shook her head, "I just don't buy that as a good thing."

Roy shook his head slightly. It was on the tip of his tongue to say he just knew that his use of that word would bug her, but while it would prove his point, he also knew it would start a fight and there was no way he wanted to start a shift with an argument with his wife. He shrugged as he sipped his coffee, "Then don't think of it as predictable, think of it as stability."

She snorted at that, "Stable? I can think of one thing in our lives that is certainly not stable." Their eyes met and both spoke at the same time.

"I'm thinking of your partner!"

"You're thinking of Johnny."

They both laughed. Jo stood up and began to clear the table. Roy helped her. "Well, surprisingly, you are wrong."

Jo drew back and looked at him in surprise. Roy couldn't help but look a little smug as he replied. "Johnny may not be strictly 'predictable'" he made quote motions with his fingers as he said the word and watched his wife's eyebrows cant upward.

"Roy," she interrupted, "You can't say that there is anything about your partner that can ever be considered predicable."

Roy shook his head, "Actually, Jo there is." He laughed at her look of total unbelief. "I think after nearly two years of working side-by-side with him, I've figured him out. He might not be predictable, as I already stated," He frowned at her unladylike snort and continued as if she hadn't, "but he has a pattern he keeps."

She continued to look at him in disbelief so with a patient sigh he explained. "Ok, bear with me. Today is the last shift for a three day break. So Johnny's had two days off and he probably went somewhere."

His wife nodded in agreement. She knew that Johnny didn't plan much for the single 24 hour period between the first and second shift in a stretch. He preferred to do errands and things like that on those days so his longer breaks would be free to do what he really wanted. It was a good bet that with the lovely weather they'd had this last 48 hour break that Johnny had gone somewhere to either camp, hike or do one of the other outdoor activities he so loved.

Roy saw her nod and tried had not to smirk. "So you know he probably got back late and got to bed late. It's now . . ." He looked at the watch on his wrist, "6:20. By now, Johnny has already hit the snooze button twice. In ten more minutes, it will go off again. This time he'll read it and realize what he's done. He'll leap outta bed, probably trip over something and fall, scrape himself up and race to the shower. He'll finish up there, check the time as he throws on clothes, realize he now doesn't have time for breakfast and still be on time and he'll race out the door. He'll tear into the station's parking lot with about 10 minutes to spare, race into the locker room, change and skid into place just as Cap calls for roll call." He looked smugly at his wife. She rolled her eyes but she had to admit, it did sound like a typical morning for their friend.

"Ok. Maybe it will go like that," she conceded. "Or something close." He chuckled as he kissed her cheek. "I'll call you after roll call and let you know how close." She grumbled under her breath as she began washing the dishes.

She listened as her husband finished getting ready for work then met him at the front door just as he walked toward it with his clean uniforms over his shoulder. He still held that same smug look as she kissed him and wished him a safe shift. His chuckle floated back to her as he got into his car and drove off.

Roy was sitting on the bench in front of his locker, sipping a cup of coffee, another on the bench in front of him as Johnny burst through the door. "Not bad, Junior. You made it with . . ." he looked at his watch, "7 minutes to spare."

Johnny glared briefly at his smirking partner as he ripped his shirt over his head and dropped his jeans to the floor, while toeing off his tennis shoes. "Ahhh, I turned off my damned alarm again. I'm gonna have to move it away from the bed or something, Roy, so I stop doing that."

He pulled off his pants, rolled them and his shirt and shoes quickly up and shoved them into his locker. He pulled his uniform pants off the hanger and sat briefly as he stuffed both legs into them at once. He stood quickly and stumbled as he tried to yank them upward but couldn't since he was standing on the material. Roy grabbed his arm, steadying him as Johnny shifted his feet and released the fabric. He pulled them up around his slender hips as he gave Roy a fast grin. He grabbed a white t-shirt, pulled it over his head and down with one hand while the other pulled his uniform shirt off it's hanger. He slid one arm into it, then the other and began buttoning it up.

"Well, you better do something. You know how this new cap is about being late."

Johnny nodded, "I know. I know." He shoved his shirts into the waistband of his pants then zipped, and buckled his belt. He grabbed his badge and pins from the dish in his locker shelf and begin attaching them while he sat. Roy leaned forward, his attention caught by the darkened area he saw below his partner's right eye. "What happened here?" He touched the bruised area and Johnny pulled away with a grunt.

Johnny grabbed his work shoes from the locker and dropped them on the floor, shoving both feet into them as he made a face. "'s nothing. Got tangled in my sheet and made contact with the nightstand." He pulled his left foot up, tied the boot then dropped it back down as he pulled up the other and treated it the same way. He stood, his hands patting down his body as he checked his uniform.

"Pouch." Roy said helpfully. Johnny snapped his fingers and grabbed his scissors pouch, attached it to his belt, then grabbed his notebook and pen and placed them in his chest pocket. He dropped back to the bench with a weary sigh, running his long fingers through his hair. He looked at his watch and grinned at the time.

Roy chuckled and pushed the other cup toward his partner as he stood, sipping his own. Johnny grinned as he took a drink. "Thanks."

Roy shrugged, "Self preservation." He replied. At Johnny's look of confusion he added, "Prevention against the caffeine headache you'll have if you don't get some coffee soon. Bet you didn't have time for one this morning before you left."

"No," Johnny mournfully admitted.

Roy nodded, "See, prevention." He took another sip of his own coffee, watching in amusement as his words registered on Johnny.

Johnny now frowned, "Uh? Whoa. Waitaminute, waitaminute, are you saying there's something wrong if I don't get coffee in the morning?"

Roy hid a grin, "No nothing's 'wrong'. You get a headache then start to grumble and complain then I get a headache. So, this is self preservation." He started for the door, Johnny on his heels, his voice raised in protest. "Roy. Roy! Are you saying I'm addicted to caffeine? Roy, I'm not addicted to caffeine! Roy!"

Roy entered the dayroom, Johnny right behind him, still protesting. "I'm not addicted. I'd know if I were addicted to anything!"

Roy turned, his smirk barely in check. "Johnny, are you telling me that if you don't get a cup of coffee within three hours of getting up that you don't get a headache?"

Johnny blinked. "Well. Nooo, no I'm …that's …I might get a headache, yeah."

Roy smirked fully at him and Johnny continued, "But that might have nothing to do with caffeine." He shrugged a shoulder and tried to look nonchalant. "I just get a headache. Lots of people get headaches for lots of reasons."

Roy's blue eyes twinkled as he sipped his coffee and pulled out a chair at the table. "Uh huh. You keep telling yourself that."

Marco Lopez, lineman for the engine and Mike Stoker, the engine's engineer exchanged grins at the early morning entertainment. "Morning guys." Roy said.

"Morning Roy, Morning Johnny."

"Hey guys."

Johnny looked up at them as he dropped bonelessly into a chair next to his partner. "Uh, yeah, hi guys." He turned back to his partner, "Now Roy. Look here . . "

"Roll call gentlemen." a deep voice interrupted as the tall lanky form of the station's Captain poked his dark head into the doorway. The four men pushed back their chairs and headed toward the closet. They each grabbed their formal hats and lined up in the apparatus bay.

Captain Henry "Hank" Stanley looked over the four men standing in front of him and frowned. "Now I know I've only been here at this station for six weeks." He looked each man carefully in the eye and seeing their confusion continued, "But I could've sworn this was a _six_ man station." He watched, silently amused as his words sank into his men and they glanced anxiously back and forth. Just then, Chet Kelly raced into the room and slid to a stop beside Marco. Captain Stanley nodded. "Ah. I was right. Six men."

Without further comment he read a memo from HQ, then added, "C shift's engine had a light day but I doubt we'll be that lucky since this is the start of a holiday weekend. So Stoker, Lopez, Kelly, I want you to make sure everything on the engine is prepared."

"Aye sir."

"Yes Cap"

"You got it Cap" Came his answers. He nodded his head and faced his two paramedics. Like everyone else in LA County, he too was getting used to the idea of paramedics. But unlike most, he'd already had a front row seat to the difference these men can and did make. And unlike some other captains, he welcomed these two as a valuable addition to his engine crew. He looked at them now as he added, "Unfortunately guys, the squad had nearly constant runs. Check over your gear; I have no doubt you'll need to make a run for supplies. Try to get it done as soon as possible, I have a feeling time will be a precious commodity today."

The two nodded soberly, it was clear from the looks on their faces they too expected to be busy. He turned and addressed them all once more. "That said, here's the chores. Stoker, you have the bay, Lopez the dorm. DeSoto, Gage Kitchen and dayroom. Gage you have KP today. Kelly latrine. If that's all, get to work and let's be safe today."

As they began to move away, Chet whined. "Ahhh Cap, don't let Gage cook."

Hank looked at the men still standing before him. "Is there something wrong?"

Three heads shook as they answered, "No, Sir. Nothing."

Gage was glaring at Kelly, his hands planted on his hips. "Just what do you mean by that, Kelly?" He demanded.

Kelly ignored him, ignored Marco pulling his arm, "I mean, I know you haven't been here long, Cap, and you just don't understand."

Hank dropped the arm holding the clipboard and settled his other hand on his hip. "Oh, I don't huh. Then perhaps you should enlighten me?"

Chet hesitated, then plunged ahead as his Captain eyed him. "It's just . . .Aww, Cap did you have to put Gage in charge of lunch? All he knows how to cook is hot dogs and hamburgers!"

Hank looked at the other men. "This true?"

The others nodded while the man in question tried to look insulted but only managed to look slightly guilty.

Hank grinned at his men, "Well. It IS Labor Day weekend. What could be more 'labor easy' then hot dogs and hamburgers? I think it sounds like a great meal, Gage. Good choice." Mike nodded in silent agreement while Marco hid a chuckle. Roy grinned widely and Johnny just looked confused. He didn't know whether to be insulted or thankful. Chet just dropped open his mouth and made sputtering noises.

Without another word, Hank turned from them and headed to the kitchen for a coffee refill before heading back into his office. Chet headed to the closet for his cleaning supplies, still grumbling under his breath. Johnny still stood, his hands on his hips and his mouth slightly opened, his expression rather bemused. Roy grabbed his arm and tugged him toward the squad. "Come on Junior. We need to get the inventory done."

Johnny pointed toward where Cap had disappeared and then toward Chet as he sputtered, "Roy, did . . . did you hear . . .did Cap . . .I mean did…?"

Roy nodded as he pulled the younger man with him. "Yes I did. Yes he did. Yes Chet did. Now, are you gonna count or catalog?"

"Huh?" Johnny replied then with a shake of his dark head, grounded himself in the here and now. "Um, I'll count."

Roy nodded, pulled out the biophone and placed the recharged battery into its slot then handed it over to Johnny and grabbed up the requisition form. He began to fill it out as Johnny grabbed the biophone and made the morning calibrations call to Rampart. Once that was done, Johnny took the old battery, placed it into the charger then pulled the drug box and settled on his haunches.

"Boy, Cap wasn't kidding!" He exclaimed as he looked inside. Roy glanced down and frowned as he too saw the depleted supplies. "We'd better get this done fast before we get a run." He murmured. Johnny just nodded, his hands already busy sorting and counting. Before long the two had the drug box completed and were finishing the trauma box. As Roy wrote the last item down, he tore the form off, replaced the clipboard back into its slot and the form into his pocket. He then peeked his head into Cap's office as Johnny began putting everything away. "Cap?"

He waited until Cap's dark eyes settled on him, his brows raised in a question. "We're headed for Rampart for supplies then we'll be swinging by the grocery for food." Cap nodded and bent back over his paperwork. Roy climbed into the driver's seat just as he heard the side compartment of the squad slam closed and then Johnny bounced into his seat.

He waved a hand toward Mike who had opened the bay doors for them and grinned back as the squad pulled out, Johnny already animatedly jabbering at his partner. Mike shook his head and muttered under his breath, "Johnny is wound up today, he must have spent the break outside."

In the cab of the squad, Roy glanced at his friend with barely suppressed humor. Johnny had, thankfully, forgotten Chet's comments and was happily telling Roy all about his two days off and the wonderful new trail he'd discovered. "You should see it, Roy. I thought at first it was just an animal trail, well, it might still have been just an animal trail, but it's pretty even for that but I don't believe it's been used much by human feet, although I could see the faint tracks of at least one shoe, but it was old and there weren't a lot of broken upper limbs that you'd get from people walking through so I don't really think it's been used much as a human trail, that is."

Roy glanced at his friend, thinking, '_Breathe partner! Stop and please take a breath ;you're making my respirations raise just listening to you. Why isn't his face red from getting all that out?'_

Johnny inhaled deeply and let it out in a contented sigh as he shook his head, his eyes distant with remembered pleasure. "It was incredible, just incredible Roy. You have to come see it. Maybe our next long break we can go."

Hoping to force Johnny to take another breath before Roy passed out from lack of oxygen by association, Roy cut in with, "That sounds like a good idea. I'll have to check and see what the family has planned but I'd like to see it."

Johnny froze, staring at his partner with his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. "You would?!" he squeaked then shook himself and gave a grin. "well, awright! Far out! I know you'll just love it Roy." In his excitement, his fingers beat out a fast rhythm on the dash before he snapped his fingers and then clasped his hands together. "Just wait until you see it, Roy. It's so clean and untouched up there and the trail ended at this incredible clearing with these huge trees all around and this . . . this pool so clear you could see the fish swimming around."

Roy smiled at his partner's enthusiasm. "Yeah, I though you'd like that, partner."

Johnny barely paused as he glanced at Roy, only half-hearing what Roy'd said as his busy mind was already planning all the details for the proposed outing. "Huh? What was that?" He asked distractedly.

Roy's grin widened. "I said it sounds like fun, Johnny."

Johnny settled back in his seat, a huge smile on his face as he watched out the window. Roy eased the squad off the main road and into the hospital parking lot. Before long, he and Johnny were making their way through the hallway toward the nurse's station. Sitting on her stool, Dixie McCall looked up under some hidden intuition, saw the two paramedics headed her way and shut the chart before her, knowing that over the next few moments, she'd be too busy to finish. However a pleasant smile spread across her face as she shifted toward the two.

"Well, I can't pretend to ask what you two are doing here so early. I heard what kind of shift Dwyer and Thompson had."

"Yeah," Roy nodded in agreement, "I think the only thing left in the drug box were a few aspirin." Johnny snickered and the pretty blonde turned to the dark haired man who was currently rocking from the balls of his feet to his heels and back again, a large lop-sided grin on his face. "Well, hello Johnny." She said as she batted her eyes at him. Impossibly, the grin widened as he replied in the same tone, "Well, hello back 'atcha, Dixie!"

Dixie watched him for a moment longer then turned back to Roy who handed her the list. She jerked her head toward the younger half of the team and asked, "Ok what has twinkle toes there so wound up?"

"Twinkle toes, . .." Johnny giggled, then became distracted as a nurse walked by. He began walking backwards in her direction as he told Roy, "Hey Roy. I'll be . . .uhhh . . .." Roy nodded and just waved him on. Johnny grinned again, gave a hop-skip step as he turned around and followed the nurse. When Roy faced the head nurse, he was smiling. He rolled his eyes and quipped, "Some things never change."

"Oh, I don't know Roy." The nurse replied as she read over the list and began to assemble the various items. "Someday he might just surprise you."

Roy laughed and Dixie tilted her head toward him, one eyebrow cocked. "Don't laugh, DeSoto. There's more to Johnny than he lets most people see."

"Yeah, right," Roy scoffed, "Secretly Johnny is a foreign diplomat living under an assumed identity. Come on Dixie, Johnny is as about as easy to read as a children's book. 'See Johnny.' 'See Nurse'. 'See Johnny chase nurse'. 'Run, Nurse, run.'"

Dixie laughed, "More like 'run, Johnny, run.'" They both chuckled. Dixie looked up with a serious expression on her face as she placed two filled boxes on the counter in front of them. "Really, Roy. You've only known Johnny for a little over two years. He's a pretty complicated person. I just don't think you've seen all the sides he has to show yet."

Roy counted through the items then grinned again at the nurse, "Yeah, he's complicated alright. About as complicated as limerick."

Dixie raised her eyebrows as she tilted her head again, "Well, in many ways, yes." Then she looked straight into Roy's blue eyes, her own so serious it took him by surprise. "Just don't sell him short. And don't think you have him all figured out. I've known him a lot longer than you and he still surprises me." With that the head nurse left the station—and a slightly bemused paramedic—standing as she disappeared into a treatment room. Roy turned back to the boxes, a frown on his face. He knew the head nurse, he thought, fairly well. She had an almost uncanny instinctive intuition about things and people. And he knew she was always straight up with them. Could she be correct about this as well??

As he had just shaken his head, intending to dismiss her comments, he caught sight of his partner headed his way. Some of the bounce was missing from Johnny's step and his face was twisted in deep concentration. Roy grinned, sure he knew what happened. "She turned you down?"

Johnny looked up, seeming slightly surprised to find himself nearly to his friend, "Huh? Yeah, I mean no, I mean not really." He looked back behind him, then turned back toward his friend.

Roy shoved one of the boxes in his hands, picked up the other and begin heading out, "Well, which is it, Junior? Either she turned you down or she didn't?"

Johnny frowned as he paced perfectly with his partner, "She said she'd go out with me but only if I took her to the firefighter's ball. Roy, that's not until November. That's still two months away. She said she needs that long to plan. . . " Johnny looked even more confused and Roy hid a snicker as he shoved the box of supplies into the compartment. He took the other box from his partner's lax hands and shoved it in as well. He sealed the door and slapped the still befuddled man on the shoulder. "come on Junior we've got groceries to get."

"Huh? Oh, um .. yeah." Johnny crawled into the cab and shut the door behind him. He put his elbow on his knee, braced his chin on his upright hand and stared out the window. Roy shook his head and gave into silent laughter as he turned the engine over and smoothly pulled the squad out of the parking lot. Just as he turned onto the street three beeps sounded on the radio.

"Squad 51, what's your status?"

Johnny picked up the mic and answered, "Squad 51 available at Rampart Hospital."

"Squad 51 stand by for response." Immediately tones sounded. And the voice of Sam Lanier came back on. "Squad 51 Engine 51. Structure fire. 1537 North Vernon Street. 1-5-3-7 North Vernon, cross street Maples. Time out 09:12."

"Squad 51 10-4" Johnny answered and as he hung up the mic he heard Cap's voice acknowledge for the engine. "Roy, that's about 15 minutes from Rampart. Take a right on Sepulveda." Roy nodded to let his navigator know he'd heard. Johnny continued to direct his friend and in the distance they could hear the siren and occasional blast of an airhorn as Mike maneuvered the engine toward them. Roy pulled the squad over in front of a nice 1 ½ story bungalow with smoke billowing up from the back. Immediately the two pulled on their turnout coats and pulled out their breathing apprentice. Even as Johnny pulled the harness over his shoulders, he was knocked into the side of the squad as a woman grabbed his arm and began tugging on him.

"Hurry! You have to hurry! He's on fire! I tried to put it out but . . . Hurry!" Johnny instantly stopped what he was doing and followed the frantic woman as Roy raced around the back of the squad for the fire extinguisher there. As he rounded the corner, his practiced gaze took in several things at once. A grill set too close to an overhead awning over a back porch, both in flames. An umbrella table also in flames and a man rolling around in the grass, flames on his back and arms. Without breaking stride, Johnny stripped off his coat and fell down next to the man, quickly wrapping him in the fabric and patting out the flames.

He could feel the guy beneath his hands starting to push back on him. "Hey, Hey calm down. We got it out; you're awright. Just relax and let me check you over. You're awright now." The injured man rolled his face toward his rescuer and Johnny saw bleary dark eyes focus on him. The man pushed backwards, trying to get into a sitting position, but Johnny gently restrained him. "Stay still for a moment while I check you out here." He told the patient. But the patient merely gave him a nod and a grin. "Gage" He said, "I thought I recognized your voice. Just my ill luck you guys responded."

Johnny blinked and looked closer at the half of face he could see and recognized, "Cap?? Uhh, yeah, it's us, 51's I mean." He noticed reddened area on the Captain of C-Shift's face as well as some scorched hair and redness on the back of his neck. Just then Johnny was aware of two figures bending next to him. One was his partner who dropped sterile sheets, bottles of saline and the trauma box and biophone. The other was his own captain who placed the drug box and O2 next to them, even as he kept a watchful eye on the rest of his crew who made quick work of removing any remaining hotspots. Then he looked at his counterpoint and grinned. "Bernie. Thought I recognized the address. What? You had a such a busy shift that you decided to make sure we did as well?"

Bernard "Bernie" Williams, captain of 51's c-shift chuckled at his friend as the two paramedics set about getting vitals and cutting off as much of his clothing as they could before they covered him with the sheets and poured the saline over his burned back. "Yeah, right Hank. Truth is I really don't know what happened. I set up the grill, went in to check on the meat and came back out to fire it up." He shook his head in remembrance, "And boy did she fire up. Sent a flame high enough to catch that awning." He glanced over toward his house with a rueful face. "I've had this grill for a while … never had any trouble with it. Then when I lit it this time, all hell broke loose." he nodded upward where Marco and Chet were pulling down the last of the destroyed awning. "A flame shot out of the top of the grill, just as that pole gave and the awning sagged. I told Martha to call you, grabbed the gloves and tried to pull the grill away from the house. Next thing I knew the gloves caught and I was alight. I dropped to the ground and then your man was on top of me." He gave a faint sigh as the saline began to cool the burns. He looked at Roy who sat near him, the biophone receiver to his ear. "How bad, DeSoto?"

Roy grinned at the man and his own captain's slightly worried look. "Not too bad, Cap, Cap. Mostly first, some second degree burns on your back, neck, ears and arms and hands. You lost some hair as well."

Bernie gave a barking laugh, "Well, that I didn't have much to lose to begin with." He sighed, "So I'll miss a few shifts then." Roy nodded then asked, "Cap? How's your breathing? Any trouble?" He had looked closely and didn't see any signs of burns on his face or singed nose hairs but wanted to confirm. Bernie shook his head, "No, no trouble, I know better than to breathe with flames that close so I held my breath."

Just then a commotion over by the swing set caught all their attention. Four sets of eyes focused on Martha who had two tear-filled slightly hysterical boys in front of her. One was screaming, "Teddy burnt Daddy all up! It's all his fault! I told him not to! Daddy's all burnt up and Teddy did it!"

Over an hour later, with their patient in Dr. Brackett's watchful care and loaded with pain-killers, a tired but chuckling team of paramedics climbed back into their squad. Johnny turned to his partner, "I just can't believe it. No wonder everything went up as fast as Cap said it did!"

Roy agreed, "Yeah, when Teddy told Cap how he thought he'd be helping his Dad by "making the fire really big" I thought Martha was gonna faint."

Johnny shook his head in wonder, "To think, he'd used a whole bottle of lighter fluid. A whole bottle! You know Roy? He musta've soaked the oven mits too and that's why they caught fire like they did." He called them in as available and shook his head again. "Man! To think! Cap's really lucky! It couldn've been much worse!"

Roy nodded.

Johnny frowned, "What I still don't get is why Teddy thought the lighter fluid was water and that would help."

Roy chuckled, "I understand. I've heard older boy scouts refer to lighter fluid as 'boy scout water' and they use it as an accelerant to start a fire. Teddy just started cub scouts so I bet that's where he heard that."

"Oh," Johnny's frown deepened as he turned and faced his partner, "Hey Roy? So why does calling it 'boy scout water' make it safer?"

Roy shook his head, "It doesn't. And you'd think that being the boy scouts they'd push more of the safety aspect." He saw Johnny take a deep breath, and wanting to distract his partner from a possible rant, broke in with, "We'd better get to the grocers before we get called out again or it'll be cheese sandwiches for dinner."

"Oh,!" Johnny's eyes went wide, "Yeah, ummm, I was thinking potato salad and beans to go with the burgers and dogs. Whatdiya think?"

Roy nodded, "And chips. I like chips with my burgers."

Conversation lagged as Johnny pulled out his pad and pen and began a list of the things he'd need, then checked the money he'd collected from each man before they'd left. Roy was just enjoying the fact that he'd derailed his partner's rant before it got started. "_Yeap, I know you, partner. If I'd have let you get started on that, we'd never get to eat today_.

Once in the market, Johnny picked up all the items on his list and he and Roy headed for the check-out. Johnny looked at Roy and sighed, "Look at the lines, Roy. We'll be lucky if we get out of here before we get called out." A woman dressed in nice clothes saw them and motioned them to an empty line. "I'll take you boys over here. I know you're on a time constraint." Guessing by her actions, and the huge ring of keys she had, that she was the manager, they followed her.

Johnny grinned broadly as he and Roy thanked the woman while placing the items on the belt. She quickly added the items up, grinning at the two firemen as she did, "Looks like you fellows are gonna have a cook-out. Be careful with your cooking fire!" Johnny made a face and she laughed harder. "I always wanted to say that to a fireman." Then she leaned forward as she gave them back their change. "Seriously, you guys do a great job and I think don't get thanked near enough. My sister's house caught fire last month in the dead of night and you guys rescued her family _and_ their two dogs." She smiled brightly, "Consider this my holiday payback." She moved to the person next in line just as the HT gave two beeps. "Squad 51 what's your location?"

Johnny pulled the HT from his belt as he balanced the bag on his other hip. "Squad 51. Ralph's grocery corner Miller and Dexter." Then the bag was gone from his hand. He looked surprised but the HT caught his attention as it announced, "Squad 51 man down. 2468 West Wyler. 2-4-6-8- West Wyler. Cross street Sherman. Time out 11:45."

"Squad 51 10-4" Johnny looked at Roy who looked as confused for a minute. Both bags had been taken from the paramedics and the same woman who had checked them out told them quickly. "Go! We've put your stuff in a cooler. You can either come back for it or better yet, I'll have our delivery boy take it to your station."

Johnny grinned again. "Thanks! Station 51 in Carson." He said as he and Roy rushed toward the doors. She waved, "I know where that is, don't worry. Take care!" And the two men were out the door, for once feeling proud over the way they'd been treated.

They arrived on scene and were met by a sheriff's deputy. He made a face as he came up to the squad. "I don't think it's too serious, guys, but figured it was better to be safe."

"So what do we got, Reggie? Johnny asked.

Reginald "Reggie" Klein gave a long suffering sigh. "Usual holiday family drama. She wanted to spend the day at her mother's, he wanted a nice backyard picnic at home with his buds. She dumped a pitcher of tea over his head, he threw a pot of beans at her, then slid in the mess and hit his head on the floor. Neighbors heard the commotion and called us. We got here just as he went down."

Johnny and Roy nodded as they removed the trauma box, drug box, and biophone. Reggie grabbed the O2 and led the medics into the house. Once in the kitchen, they could see Toby Rockwell, Reggie's partner, had the woman seated at the table away from where her husband laid moaning on the floor. Both paramedics stopped for a moment, wide eyed at the sight of a massive, muscular, and moaning man, easily 6'6, lying in the middle of a mess of baked beans. Johnny headed toward the man while Roy made his way over to the woman who was tiny, barely 5', and probably not even 100 lbs. She looked up at him, tears mixing with beans still dripping from her face as her breath hitched in sobs. "Brian? Brian, Baby, are you alright? Brian? Is he gonna be alright. I . . . . I heard him hit. It sounded awful. Brian?"

"My partner is checking him over. I'm Roy. I need to see about you. Are you hurt anywhere, ma'am?"

She shook her head, "Charess, and no I'm not hurt anywhere. The beans . . .the beans were still cold. I'd just put them on." She tried to see around the officer as her husband's moaning became louder. "Brian!?"

Meanwhile, Johnny had his hands full with Brian. As soon as the paramedic had kneeled next to him and announced, "Hi, my name is Johnny and I'm a paramedic. Where are you hurt?" The man immediately grabbed onto Johnny with a surprisingly firm grip and moaned pitifully. "Ohhhh, Doc. She. . .she killed me. I just know I've got one of those skull fracture things! I . . .I heard it break."

"We'll see. Let me take a look here." Johnny soothed as he tried to pry the huge hands from his arm and shirtfront. Finally, sighing in defeat, he did what he could around the restraints. Johnny could already see the man's pupils appeared to be fairly normal but he checked with his penlight just to make sure. Then he took a pulse, respiration and BP. Then he carefully probed the bump on the back of the man's head. He was pleased that it was a closed injury, felt no crepitus or depression and minor swelling. Everything else looked good, vitals a little elevated but not badly.

All the while, the man continued to moan and groan. Roy joined him and Johnny quietly filled him in on the man's condition. Roy nodded and called in. Neither paramedic was surprised when Morton ordered an IV and transport. "The doctor has ordered a IV so I'm going to start that on you now, Brian." Johnny said as he pulled the set-up.

Brian ceased his moaning as he noticed what Johnny had. When Johnny pulled off the shield and revealed the needle, Brian gave out a loud cry, his face went white and then his eyes rolled back. Johnny looked up at Roy who immediately had reached for a pulse. "He fainted." Roy stated. He picked up the receiver as Johnny started the IV. "Rampart, patient has lost consciousness." With his captor unconscious, Johnny finally straightened up and stretched his back to remove the cramp from his muscles as he rubbed the bruised area on his forearm.

"51 recheck vitals." Morton barked. The two did as told. Johnny looked at Roy and shook his head. Roy sighed. "Vitals are the same, Rampart. No change."

"Repeat. 51?"

Roy sighed again and watched as Brian began groaning loudly again, opened his eyes, saw the IV stuck into his arm, gave out another loud cry and promptly was out again. "Rampart, uhhh, patient came around, took one look at the IV and went out again."

On the other end, Morton hung his head and sighed, "Understood 51. Continue to monitor vitals and get him in here."

Roy's mouth twitched as he acknowledged, "10-4 Rampart. Ambulance is now on scene. Monitoring vitals and transporting now." He looked at his partner and nodded toward the distinctive red-turning purple area on his friend's arm. "You ok there?"

Johnny rubbed the area with a grimace, "Yeah. Man! He had quite a grip!"

Roy nodded, "So I saw."

The attendants pulled the gurney up but it took four of them to pick the giant of a man up and put him on the gurney. Reggie came over, grinning at Roy as Johnny made his way out with the patient. "He gonna be alright?"

"Which one?" Roy allowed a slight smile.

Reggie chuckled, "Yeah, I was afraid he'd break Johnny's arm if he held on any tighter."

Roy nodded, "I think they'll both be alright. The victim doesn't look too bad. His vitals are all strong." He shrugged, "But it _is_ a head wound and with head wounds you never can tell."

Reggie nodded then grinned again, "Big guy like that. Takes all kinds, huh." He, too, had seen what had happened with the IV. For the sake of his professionalism, Roy didn't comment. Reggie was still snickering as he helped the paramedic pack up his equipment.

As Roy walked into Rampart, he could see Johnny standing by Dixie his hands waving as he told some tale. Dixie had her chin braced in her hand as she watched the paramedic, a quietly bemused look on her face. Roy smiled. He just knew Johnny was expounding on their last rescue. And the words he caught as he got closer upheld that assumption.

"I mean Dix, he barely had a bump back there. I've gotten worse knots . . ."

"We all know how hard _your_ head is, Junior, maybe his skull isn't made out of cast iron." Roy quipped.

`Johnny looked at him, "haha, funny Roy." He said in a very sarcastic tone.

Before his partner could elaborate, Roy nodded toward the treatment door. "So how's the patient?"

Johnny snorted, "Fine. Swelling is already reduced just with the ice pack. Doc said he doesn't even have a concussion. He made Doc take a full second set of x-rays. Said he'd read somewhere that if you breathe or move, it can blur the x-ray and give a false reading." He looked back toward the treatment room. "He's still in there moaning he's dying and his wife is crying all over him." Johnny shook his head. Then he tapped his fingers in a fast beat on the edge of the cabinet before turning to Roy. "Well, what say we head back to the barn? I'm hungry and I still hafta fix lunch."

Roy agreed and waved to Dix. "Bye Dix, I'm sure we'll see you later."

Johnny smirked, "Yeah with the way the day's started, it will probably continue the same way so we'll be in again . . .and again. . .and again."

Dixie smacked at him and laughing, he ducked and left with a jaunty stride, following his partner out.

They made it back to the station without being called out again and Johnny immediately hopped out and headed toward the kitchen. Roy followed at a slower pace, noticing the engine was gone so the two paramedics were alone. By the time, Roy reached the kitchen, Johnny was happily checking out the fridge for his supplies. Just then, the engine pulled in and soon the other four of their shift wandered in. "Hey Johnny, Roy." Marco greeted the two as he plopped down in a chair. "Your groceries came by currier just before we got toned out."

"Hey Roy? Did we buy a cake? I don't remember buying a cake. We didn't have enough money for a cake. Where did this cake come from?" Johnny looked up with a frown. Marco looked over at the younger man. "It was in with the rest of the stuff, along with a bucket of ice cream."

Johnny looked at Roy, his eyes wide. "I know I didn't buy ice cream. I thought about buying ice cream but I didn't." He looked back into the fridge, his voice taking on a note of panic. "Roy? Do you think they sent the wrong stuff? Could this be someone else's order?"

Roy rolled his eyes at his friend's fast changing emotions. '_I'd better calm him down before he gets going._' Roy thought. He joined Johnny as the younger man touch each item and recited it as if making sure it was what it was. "Well, this looks like everything we got, just with some extras. Relax Johnny, I'm sure it's just a simple mistake." He turned back to the other men. "What did the delivery guy say?"

"_She_," Mike stressed the word, "said you guys had just paid for this stuff and got called. She said they told you they'd bring it over for you and you told her where."

Johnny nodded, "Yeah, yeah, that's what happened. But how did . . .? Where did . . .?"

"Did she say anything else?" Roy interrupted his partner's stuttering.

"She said she hoped we enjoyed our 'cookout' and thanked us for our service then wished us a Happy Labor day." Cap added.

Johnny whirled around, a package of meat in one hand and a bottle of ketchup in the other. "But Cap, they messed up. What if they come back and charge us?" Johnny looked at his full hands, moved to replace them in the fridge, turned to his left toward the cabinet then turned back the other direction and shoved the items into Roy's hands. Then he began to pat down his pockets. "I . . .I don't have enough. I only got two dollars and . . .and . . .thirty, no . . maybe fifty . . . "

"Gage!" Cap barked and made the young man jump in reaction. He blinked wide-eyed at his captain, his mouth hanging slightly open. Cap relaxed his stance and gave a faint grin as he amended his attitude in deference to startling his paramedic. "John, calm down before you hurt yourself. Now, the most logical thing to do is check the receipt."

Johnny grinned, "The receipt! Of course, I . . .I . . ." He patted down his pockets again, reached in and pulled everything out. Alcohol prep pads, some wrapped candies, loose change but no receipt. He looked beseechingly at his partner. "Roy?"

Roy shook his head, "She handed it to you with the change."

Johnny nodded, frowning in thought. "That's right, that's right. And I tucked it into the bag when the HT went off." They both turned and as one looked at the other members. All three heads shook, "The stuff was brought in one of those Styrofoam coolers, not bags. There was no receipt."

Mike rejoined the group, a faint smile on his lips. "I think I know what happened." He shook his head and chuckled. "That manager, she really is a smart one. There is no receipt."

Johnny's mouth fell open again. Cap settled his hands on his hips and looked at his engineer. "Instead of keeping the solution to this mystery to yourself would you care to share with the others?"

"Yeah!" Chet snickered, "Before Gage there has a full blown stroke!"

Johnny and Roy both glared at Chet but Mike nodded. "Ok. I called the store and the manager said that everything delivered was correct. She said there had been no mistakes, that our order was exactly as it should be. Then she reiterated that we have a good cookout and a safe Labor Day. And that she hoped we'd continue to patronize her store."

Cap nodded slowly, "I see. And with no receipt, we can't prove anything."

Mike nodded, "And we can't refuse by saying we can't take gratuities since we can't prove we didn't purchase the cake and ice cream."

The others finally got it and happy grins broke out on each face but Johnny's. He turned to Roy. "I don't get it . . ."

Roy smiled and slapped him on the shoulder. "I'll explain it later, Junior."

"Better use small words!" Chet added, still snickering. "Hey Gage, maybe she wants you, that's why she did it."

Johnny whirled around and glared at his nemesis, "She was wearing a wedding ring, Kelly,"

Chet shrugged, "So, married women can still. . . " He broke off as he realized that Johnny's narrowed eyes weren't the only pair now glaring in his direction. "I . . uh, think I hear Boot wanting out." He quickly left the area. Johnny looked thoughtful, then said, "You know, Cap. She said her sister's house had burned recently and she was grateful that the family and the dogs were gotten safely out."

Cap nodded. "Well, that makes sense and since there's nothing we can do about it, I say we just enjoy. Now," he clapped his hands together and rubbed them, a habit his men were fast learning was a sign of an order about to be made in the form of a suggestion. "I suggest we see to our chores and let John here get busy."

Johnny immediately turned back to the fridge and quickly began pulling out the items he'd planned for lunch. Before long, a quick meal of cold cuts, cheeses, a variety of sliced vegetables, various condiments and large sub-style buns were on the table. "Chow's On!" He called as he placed a pitcher of chilled lemonade in the center. Soon five hungry men joined him. Chet looked over the table and complained, "So what did you fix, Gage? It looks like you just threw stuff out and expect us to make our own!"

Johnny frowned but before he could say anything, Marco spoke up. "I know what this is! It's build your own hoagie! Great idea, Johnny!" He picked up a bun and opened it, saying, "Look! He even buttered and toasted the bread!" He began to happily pile meat, cheese, tomatoes and hot peppers into his roll. The others joined him.

"Chet, I personally think this is a great idea for lunch and I love hoagies." Cap cocked an eyebrow at his lineman as he slathered horseradish over his roast beef. Johnny, his face showing his pleasure that most of his fellow shiftmates like the idea, commented, "Gee Chet. If you need help I'll be glad to make your sandwich for you."

Chet frowned, grumbling under his breath but soon realized that the rate the food was disappearing he'd better get busy or he'd have nothing. Soon each man was contently munching on a giant sandwich. Fate was kind to them and they made it all the way through the meal before the tones sounded. All six chairs scrapped the floor but four men sat back down as the dispatcher soon made it clear the call was just for the squad.

That run, a child down call, turned out to be two children whose bicycles had collided, leaving one child with a cut lip and the other with scraped knees and elbows. Both mothers chose to refuse transport, saying if things got worse, they'd see their own physicians. The two paramedics no sooner got into the cab then they were called out again. That call turned into three more: a minor fender bender, another grill incident that needed a run to Rampart and a sliced hand when a mother got distracted while slicing tomatoes. Johnny had held the frightened woman's hand all the way to the hospital, trying to control the bleeding. By the time he turned her over to the competent staff, his hand was cramped and his uniform bloody.

Dix led him out of the treatment room, handed him a towel, and pushed him toward the restrooms. He left, head down, feet shuffling. She watched him disappear into the room then looked up as Roy hurried in. "Dix?" He called even as he joined her at her station.

"She's going to be alright. Tests showed she didn't cut the tendons. She lost some blood and Doctor Early put nearly twenty stitches into the hand but she should recover completely." She answered, knowing that would be his first question. He sighed in relief, looked around frowning and opened his mouth again. Dix cut him off, "I sent him into the restrooms to wash up some. He's ok too."

Roy grinned, '_Guess I'm not the only one who can predict patterns_.' He thought. To the head nurse he said, "It was a tough one. The victim's two young kids were there too and they were crying at seeing their mother hurt. One, the boy, attacked Johnny when his exam made the woman cry out."

Dixie nodded. "I saw the split lip, I wondered."

Roy nodded back. "Yeah, Johnny was holding pressure on her hand by then and couldn't do much." He shrugged, "Like Johnny would've done anything anyway."

Dixie agreed. "What happened to the kids?"

"A neighbor saw the squad and came over. She said she'd keep the kids at her house until the father got home. I guess he'd run to the store." Roy shook his head. "The backyard was all set up for a party. I hope they can still have it. Looked like a birthday by the balloons and presents."

"I'm sure she'll be fine. They'll probably watch her for a while and then release her." Dixie commented then turned her head as the squeak of the men's restroom door sounded. She smiled at the slightly cleaner figure that appeared. Roy looked his partner over, seeing the droop of the shoulders, the shuffling walk and knew that as tired as he felt after the near back-to-back runs, his partner was feeling it more.

"Hey Johnny," he called, "Let's head back so you can change."

Johnny nodded, "OK. See ya Dix."

Dixie tilted her head at them and commented, "I hope not!"

Both men smiled, knowing what she meant. By the time they returned to the station, Johnny had gotten his second wind and was sitting straighter in the seat. He looked at his watch, "Geeze! 6:30 already? It feels like I just fixed lunch!" Roy nodded, still playing his game, he mentally expressed his partner's next words, '_I'm gonna get changed and then tackle dinner, ok Roy? Why does he feel he needs to ask me, he can do that on his own.'_

"Hey Roy? I think when we get back, I'm gonna change then start in on dinner."

Johnny said. Roy smiled a little in self-congratulation. "I think that's a wise move, Johnny."

As he turned off the engine, he turned to his partner who was halfway out of the cab already. "While you're doing that, Johnny. I'm gonna call Jo quick."

Johnny nodded and shouted back to his partner as he headed for the lockers. "Hey? Tell Jo I said 'Hi'"

Roy grinned and disappeared into the lounge for his regular evening call. He dialed the number, counted the times it rang and grinned when it was precisely five times before he heard his wife's voice say, "Hello?"

"Hi, sweetheart it's me." He said even before she finished.

"Roy, were you counting the rings again?"

He blushed even though she couldn't see him.

She laughed, " See? I'm not the only one who can be predicted."

"I said you were pleasant." He reminded her, smiling as he recalled their conversation that morning.

"So," JoAnne asked, "How was Johnny's morning?"

Roy laughed, "He made it in 7. He'd turned off his alarm and he has a bruise on his cheek from hitting the nightstand."

His wife's laughter echoed in the receiver. "Alright, I'll give you this morning."

Roy's grin widened.

"But . ."

He frowned.

"Don't get too smug. I still don't think there is much that is predictable about that partner of yours, no matter what patterns you think he may have." His wife cautioned.

"Alright," Roy pretended to agree although secretly he again congratulated himself for being right. He knew she would still be mulling over their talk and he was also aware that now she'd likely try something different just to prove her spontaneity to him.

"Sure, Honey. I love you. I'll see you in the morning." She told him then turned the phone over to the kids for their good-nights. Roy hung up the phone and headed into the kitchen. Johnny had several bowls out, as well as the hot dogs. Roy looked into one bowl and frowned at the mixture there. He could make out onions, some sort of spices and some brown liquid all over what looked like raw ground beef. "Johnny, what's this?

Johnny turned from the fridge where he'd pulled more ingredients and flashed a quick smile. "Hamburgers. Well, it will be hamburgers." He pulled something up onto the cabinet, unwrapped the cloth around it and revealed a cast iron griddle. He placed it over two of the stove's eyes and turned them on.

Roy watched, slightly bemused as Johnny mixed the meat mixture with his bare hands, then carefully washed them before he began slicing more onions and placing them onto a small plate. Tomatoes were next. Then he reached over to the sink, ran the water, dipped his finger into it and flicked the water onto the griddle. It hissed and he nodded then sprinkled the surface with salt. Next he began making patties and placing them on the grill. That done, he again washed his hands then placed several hot dogs on the griddle as well. He monitored their cooking, taking the finished ones off and placing them on a plate in the oven.

Once they all were cooked, he placed the sliced vegetables on the table, added a bowl filled with potato chips, another with potato salad and a casserole dish filled with steaming baked beans. He pulled out the condiments again as well as jars of peppers and pickles and a dish filled with sliced cheeses. These joined the items already there. Johnny looked up at Roy and asked, "You wanna call the guys?"

Roy did so as Johnny pulled the burgers and hot dogs from the oven, grabbed the packages of buns and placed them down. Roy had grabbed a pitcher of iced tea and one of lemonade from the fridge and was pouring a glass for himself and his partner. Cap surveyed the meal and rubbed his hands together. "John, pal, I must say this looks great."

Johnny turned off the oven and the eyes and sat down, a shy grin on his face at the compliment. The men dug in. Roy eyed his burger, but then caught Johnny watching him, his own fork halted midway to his mouth. He knew that even if it was the worse burger he'd ever had in his life, he'd have to choke it down. Otherwise he'd hurt his friend's feeling. Taking a deep breath, he took a bite . . . and chewed.

Surprise raised his eyebrows as delicious flavors filled his mouth. To his side, Mike remarked, "Hey Johnny, these are great! What did you do to make them taste like they were cooked on a grill?"

Johnny's cheeks pinkened. "I used the griddle I use when I camp. I knew it'd give them a slightly smoky flavor." He looked back at Roy, watching his partner carefully.

Roy was devouring the burger, enjoying each bite. He grinned at the younger man. "Junior, these really are good. I'm not sure what you added to them but make sure you do it each time." Johnny's smile widened and he applied himself to his own dinner.

Chet was still leery. "They're Gage's burger. He always fixes burgers." He complained. He took a bite, chewed, and took another.

"Well?" Cap asked.

Chet shrugged. "It's edible."

Cap frowned, "Never mind, John. I agree with Mike. These are great." Again, the fates were kind and they finished the whole meal, got the kitchen cleaned up and enjoyed coffee, pieces of cake and ice cream.

After such a large meal and a busy day, the six men could barely move. Johnny had sprawled across the corner of the couch, his feet propped up on a chair, his hands folded over his contented tummy and his eyelids drooping. Roy sat near him, reading a paperback novel.

Chet had moved over in front of the TV and was searching the limited channels. Mike and Marco had pulled out the checkers board and were heavily into a game while Cap reviewed some paperwork as he sipped on his coffee.

After about an hour, Cap sat back with a heavy sigh and looked at his watch. "Well, gentlemen, it's been a long day and there's no guarantees about the night. I say, let's head on to bed and get what rest we can."

Assent came from three men, only Chet voicing a protest but never-the-less, they filed out, headed for the lockers and the dorm beyond. Roy closed his book and looked over at his couch companion. Johnny's eyes had fully closed and Roy could tell by his soft respirations that he was asleep. Cap looked over at his youngest charge with a faint smile. "He's had a busy day." He took in the bruise under Johnny's eye, the bruise on his forearm, now very dark and encircling the appendage, and the split lip.

Roy stood up and stretched, then smiled fondly at his friend. "I think every day for him is a busy one."

Cap chuckled, "He does seem to always move at full speed."

Roy nodded, "And when he crashes, he crashes hard." He nudged Johnny's shoulder. "Come on Junior. Light's out."

Johnny stirred but then settled again. Roy's smile widened and he reached over and shook Johnny's shoulder. "Come on, Johnny. Time to hit the rack."

This time Johnny's head moved and sleepy brown eyes blinked at him. Then Johnny extended his hand and Roy grasped it, lifting Johnny to his feet. Captain Stanley watched as his paramedics together headed off toward their bunks. Again he thanked the powers that be for granting him the privilege to captain these men. Then he turned out the light and headed off for his own nighttime routine.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, thanks for the great feedback. I know I said this was short…I meant like short in that its only three chapters, not 30 some. Although I loved all the feedback, I was starting to feel like the Ronco man "But wait! There's more!" Hope you enjoy this next chapter and you can see where I'm heading with this…

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Chapter 2 The PCH Cruysers

Johnny groaned at the jangling noise that had pulled him out of the comfortable sleep he'd been in. The previous shift had been very busy with the squad pulling nearly back to back runs, several requiring a trip to Rampart, and topped off with a 6 hour early morning fire that extended beyond shift change. Every muscle in his body ached and all he wanted was to sleep the day away. However, out of force of habit, his hand found the receiver and brought it to his ear. "hello . . .?" he mumbled.

"BJ! Hey man are you there? Awww, come on, you can't still be in bed, man it's waaay after noon!"

"I _**am**_ in bed and I didn't get there until 10 this morning." He paused as he woke up a little more. "Who is this?"

A familiar laugh came over the phone lines. "Now I know you're still asleep." The voice chortled, "Who else would be calling you BJ, BJ?"

Johnny sat up, his eyes wide, now fully awake. "Mitch?" He asked excitedly. "Hey man, is it really you? Where ya at, man?"

"In town, fireboy! We've got a concert here tomorrow. We thought maybe we could meet ya and sorta hang out together, you know, for old time's sake! That is, if you don't have ta work or somethin'"

Johnny grinned, "Yeah! It'd be great to see you. No, I don't have to work. I'm off the next few days." Suddenly his aching body didn't seem tired and he was eager to see his friends.

"Cool man. We're stayin' at the Holiday Inn over off Martinsville Road. The concert will be in the Blazdell Arena. We thought maybe you could meet us for a late lunch. We're practicing until about 2."

"Great!" Johnny rubbed the last of the sleep out of his eyes as he looked at the clock by his bed. "Uhhh, do you want me to meet you at the hotel or some place else?"

"Hotel's fine. We can either eat there or some place you chose. So, we'll see you at 2?"

"Yeah," Johnny agreed, "I'll see you at 2 at your hotel."

"OK man, then later." And there was a click. Johnny hung up the phone, his mind racing. Mitch, Mitchell Patterson. Man! He hadn't seen Mitch in . . . had it really been nearly four years? He guessed that was about right, he'd been in his first year as a rescue man out of 10's. He climbed out of bed, wincing as the tired muscles in his legs and back complained over the motion. He stretched, rotating his shoulders and trying several deep knee bends as he made his way to the shower. He paused in front of the mirror, brown eyes widening at the pitiful sight looking back at him. His hair was standing straight up, his cheek was bruised, there were dark smudges showing his lack of sleep under his eyes and his lip was still tender and slightly swollen.

He looked down at his arms, flexing the muscles there, feeling the burn of overuse. The bruise caused by the huge man was no longer spreading and had settled into vivid shades of reds, purples and indigos. He looked over on his other arm, the one wrapped nearly from elbow to wrist in gauze. He slowly began unwrapping it, examining the burn underneath. It was still tender and the blisters were still filling with fluids. He debated wrapping plastic around it or leaving it open but decided to leave it and just be careful not to get any soap on it.

The hot water felt good on his shoulders and back as he stood in the spray, leaning against the wall, with his forehead resting on the cooler tile. He thought back over the busy fire they'd been toned out to about 3am. Roy had spent most of the time at triage but he'd been in and out of the building, carrying people down the ladders. He coughed, feeling a twinge in his chest from the smoke he'd eaten. His throat also felt a little rough but the warm steam soothed that. He'd been so tired that morning, he'd forgone a shower and headed straight to bed.

As he thought about his partner, he gave a rueful grin. "Bet he isn't as sore today," he mumbled. "Hope he made it home alright." He frowned, as he realized he didn't even remember the drive home or whether he'd said good-bye to his partner. He had a faint flash of concerned blue-eyes searching him over as a voice asked, "Are you sure you're alright to drive?" He didn't remember if he'd answered. Then another memory hit him, and he blinked. "He followed me home! I remember, he came up to me as I pulled in and was sitting in my Rover." Looking back, he now knew he'd fallen asleep right after he'd shut off the engine. He remembered thinking he'd just close his eyes and rest a moment before he got up the energy to walk up the stairs to his place. That was his last memory before the phone woke him.

More rejuvenated now, Johnny finished his shower, toweled his body dry and set about treating and re-wrapping the burn. Then he completed the rest of his morning's routine and entered his bedroom.

A faint smile tugged at his lips as he saw his soiled uniform folded and placed on a chair. Johnny knew instantly that his partner had been there; he would've just stripped to his skivvies and dropped in bed, not taking time nor caring where his smoky clothes fell. A strange warm feeling filled Johnny as he realized that his partner had put him to bed. It felt . . . different and not at all unpleasant. It had been a long time since anyone had showed more than a casual concern for his well-being. And sadly, Johnny could name the former on just his fingers. He sat heavily on the bed, for the first time really thinking about this new relationship he found himself in with his work partner. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to let someone else into his inner circle.

A glance at the clock on his nightstand made his pulse pick up. "Shoot! I've got to get!" He quickly dressed, ran his fingers through his now drying hair, grabbed his keys and left his apartment.

He quickly drove across town, using his skill at navigating to safely make good time. He found the Holiday Inn easily, finding a parking place was less so. He finally settled on parking in a nearby street, filled the meter and set off for the hotel. Once he entered the lobby, he looked around. He sighed as he realized he hadn't set a specific meeting place. He was just debating asking at the check-in desk for his friend's room numbers when a very familiar voice teased, "Now there's a truly sad sight; a lost Indian."

He whirled around, a grin on his face. Normally a comment like that would set Johnny's teeth on edge but coming from Lucas "Alwet (BlackCrow)" Mendoza, himself ¼ Indian, it spoke of kinship. Standing before the paramedic was a mountain of a dark skinned-dark haired man Johnny's age but a good 4 inches taller and another fifty pounds heavier. Johnny raised a hand which was immediately grasped in a huge hand. "BJ! Been too long, amigo."

"Luke! Great to see you! You look . . . um, bigger!"

Lucas laughed as he cuffed the slighter man, nearly knocking him over. Johnny had a flash of being slapped by a bear sans claws. "BJ, you're still a scrawny little . . . I thought firemen where 'posta be strong to carry people out and haul hoses and swing axes and stuff."

"They are and I was doing all that just a few hours ago." Johnny ruefully declared as he rotated his now aching shoulder. The smile dropped from Luke's face immediately. "Hey man, I'm . . ."

"We saw that apartment fire this morning on the news. Lisa was afraid you were there." Another voice spoke up and Johnny turned to shake hands with another man, this one built only slightly heavier than him with longish red-brown hair and intense grey eyes. "Mitch!" Johnny's voice and his face reflected his joy. He looked around. "Where's Lisa?"

Mitch pointed back behind him, "In the lady's room. Where she spends most of her life these days."

"You try carrying a melon around on your bladder and see how you do!" came a melodic voice as a petite, blonde, and very pregnant, woman joined the group. Johnny grabbed her shoulders, kissed her cheek and then pulled back to look at her. "Lisa! You look . . ."

"If you say I'm glowing, so help me, John Gage, I'll deck you." She growled.

Johnny laughed, "I was gonna say . . . round. But round looks really good on you."

She made a scoffing noise but her blue-green eyes twinkled. "Still the flatterer, I see, BJ" She reached up to kiss his cheek then frowned as her hand touched first on his bruised cheek then his healing lip. Behind her, Mitch said, "He _was_ at that fire, hon."

Lisa bit her lip, her eyes now swimming with tears. "I knew it. I recognized the station number. I even thought I saw you on a ladder in at least one shot." She shook her head, "We woke you too, you look tired. Maybe we should . . ."

Johnny smiled gently as he took her hand and cupped it in his as he shook his head, "I'm alright. I got some sleep last night before the fire and then before you called. I'll sleep tonight." He looked excitedly at his friends, "Besides! How often do I get to see you guys!"

Lisa stifled a sob and Mitch slipped his arm around her shoulders. "Forgive her, ever since the baby her emotions are - like - right there."

Lisa punched him in the arm causing him to groan loudly and jump back. "That's enough out of you, Mr. Patterson."

"Yes, Mrs. Patterson." He replied meekly. Johnny grinned at Luke, "Still the same?"

Luke rolled his eyes, "Yeap. Like Ol' Faithful." He spoke up, "Hey boss? You need a medic? If so, I hear they have some special dudes who'll come right to you. I might be able to find one."

Now it was Johnny's turn to scowl, "Very funny." Just then Johnny's internal configurations decided to tell his brain, and everyone else, it was time for substance. Johnny blushed deeply as there was silence right after his stomach's rude comments then laughter filled the area.

"Something else that hasn't changed!" Luke crowed. Mitch howled and Lisa giggled.

"Hey!" Johnny protested, "I haven't eaten since about 8 last night!"

Mitch's eyes went wide, "Oh Good Lord! That long!" He looked at the others. "The poor man is wasting away before our very eyes."

"I'd certainly say so." Another voice joined in and Johnny turned to face the newcomer. The slender slightly paunchy man before him reminded him instantly of Chet Kelly, down to similar fuzzy brown hair. But there was a look in his hazel eyes, a slightly challenging gaze that instantly made John's neck hairs raise. Mitch stepped forward. "Hey BJ, I don't think you've met our drummer. This is Victor Kimmel. Vic for short. Vic, this is John Gage or BJ."

Johnny extended his hand, not really surprised when the other man grasped it and squeezed—hard. Johnny let him start, then increased pressure back with a hand used to intense physical labor. He made sure he didn't injure, backing off when he saw Vic's hazel eyes widen a little and dilate. Johnny grinned. "Nice to meet you. I've heard your work. I've kept up with the group and you're good."

Vic released his hand and nodded, "Yes, I am." He took a step back and Johnny hid a smile as he saw Vic massage his hand when he thought no one was paying attention. Lisa broke the tension by turning to her husband. "Mitch, BJ isn't the only one who is hungry. Now, where're we gonna eat?"

Mitch looked around then shrugged. "I don't care, I guess we can eat here again."

Lisa made a face, "To tell the truth, Mitch, their lack of variety is beginning to wear on us." She motioned downward to include her protruding belly. Mitch looked helplessly at Vic who looked bored then over at Luke who shrugged. "Don't look at me, I don't know places around here that well anymore."

"Why don't you ask the vertical stomach?" Vic tried for a teasing tone but somehow it fell flat. However, Johnny smiled. "Sure! If you don't mind, I know a great spot about two blocks from here. The food's pretty good and the prices aren't bad." As they assented, Johnny led the way.

Mitch quickly fell into step with Johnny and the two jabbered while they walked. Luke fell into step beside Lisa who stared at her husband and their friend, "Other than looking a little tired, he looks good." She commented.

Luke nodded. "He's filled out some." He chuckled, "In school I was always afraid the Santa Anna's would someday blow him away." Lisa giggled, recalling a tall reed-thin youth with a shy smile and hair hanging in his eyes. "I'm glad to see him, it's been too long."

Luke nodded his head, "Ya know? When you first told us that he'd written that he'd been accepted into the Fire Academy I really thought it was a joke." He frowned as he recalled his next thought, that his friend would be crushed when his inevitable ejection would come.

"But he made it. He not only became a fireman but went on to become a rescue man then one of the first ever paramedics." Lisa's voice held her pride. Luke nodded, then gave a grin, "Yeah, but sometimes I can't help but wish it'd turned out different. And that he'd come with us."

Lisa sighed, "Well, as long as he's happy." Silently to herself she added, ' _I hope he's happy. He deserves to have some happiness in his life.' _

Luke, however, was now watching as Vic tried several times to cut Johnny away from Mitch although the two friends seemingly remained oblivious. Luke frowned, wondering at their drummer's decidedly cool mind-set toward the younger man.

Johnny, however, _was_ aware of Vic just as he was also aware of Lisa and had made several casual glances backward to make sure the pace and the walk wasn't too much for the pregnant woman. He'd slowed his original pace and caught Luke's smirk when he did. He rolled his eyes and Luke gave way to silent chuckles. Spinning around so that he walked backwards, Johnny told the group. "It's just at the end of this block."

Sure enough, they could see the entrance sign advertising '_Sheila's Diner'_.

Johnny held open the door and they all trooped in. The manager hurried up to them, smiling brightly, "Hi there, 5? Smoking or non-smoking."

"Non smoking please," Johnny affirmed as he nodded toward Lisa. The manager smiled and motioned, "Certainly, if you'll just follow me." And they did so. She led them to a table set back enough from the smoking area to not drift over them. "How's this?"

Johnny flashed her a smile, "Great! Thanks!"

She looked him up and down as she returned the smile with one of her own. "Your waitress' name is Sheila and she'll be with you in just a moment." She left, glancing back several times at the group. Luke elbowed Johnny as he moved to sit down. "She's checking you out, BJ."

Johnny rolled his eyes, "She's a little older than I like, Luke."

Luke shrugged, "A girl is a girl is a girl." Then yelped and jumped as Lisa kicked him from under the table. The rest hid their snickers behind hastily lifted menus.

Another woman, this one in her late forties approached the table wearing a bright smile, "Hi, my name is Shelia, Can I get drinks for you?"

Luke smiled back, "Ice tea, lots of lemon." He said. Lisa nodded, "Yes please, me too."

"I'll have a large soda, which ever dark cola you carry." Mitch said as he continued to search the menu. Vic looked up, "Ya got a bar here?"

The woman frowned slightly, "No, sorry. If you want something stronger than our coffee, you'll have to go elsewhere."

Vic made a face then sighed, "Guess I'll have a cola too."

She wrote that down and turned to Johnny, her smile wider, "Hey sweetie! Don't have to ask what you want, milk with your meal and coffee after!"

Johnny grinned and winked, "You got it, Shelia."

She looked around, "Where's Roy? He's not with you today?"

"Nah, he's home with the family. Rough shift."

She patted Johnny's bandaged arm, "So I see. Guess you were at that fire over off Bluffton, huh. Looked pretty messy."

Johnny nodded, "It was."

She marked her pad, "Ok sweets, I'll get these in. The specials today are spaghetti and meatballs, stuffed cabbage rolls, or beef Manhattan. The sides are succotash, green beans or broccoli in cheese sauce. The soups are chicken noodle and vegetable beef and the pies are lemon, cherry and berry supreme." She turned and made her way to the counter and began getting the drinks.

Luke leaned over to Johnny. "You've been here before, what's good?" Johnny looked up, narrowing his eyes as he stared toward the kitchen. A figure ducked down to look through the order window as Shelia pointed out his table and the large man beyond gave them a toothy grin and a wave. Johnny returned both then turned to his friends. "Mac's cooking. Everything will be good."

Vic eyed the other man. "You seemed awful chummy with the waitress, thought you said you didn't like older women."

Johnny chose to ignore the insinuation but answered the comment. "This place is owned by a couple I know. He's a retired fireman and their son works out of my station on another shift. When he was working, Mac was one of the best cooks in the LA Fire department. He's won the chili cook offs more times then I've been fighting fires. But his knees gave out and he had to retire so they bought this place." Johnny shrugged at the end of his speech, looking back over his menu.

Before too long, Sheila reappeared carrying their drinks. She set each down in front of each person, giving Johnny a big smile as she placed a tall glass of milk in front of him. Vic couldn't help a snide snicker, "Milk! The big strong fireman drinks milk!"

"He's a growing boy," Shelia commented as she patted Johnny's shaggy head. Johnny ducked his head in reaction. Shelia looked Vic straight in the eye and something in her stare made the drummer suddenly feel small. "Besides, how do you think firemen stay strong?"

Then she turned to the others, her smile friendly once more, , "So whatall' ya have?"

"The beef manhattan sounds good to us." Lisa said as she rubbed her bulge. Sheila laughed, "You are so right in that, honey." she agreed, "At that stage you eat what baby wants, whether you like it or not!"

Lisa, laughing, agreed.

Shelia marked the order, "And for side do you want the veggies or a salad." Lisa thought for a moment then said, "Salad, with vinegar and oil dressing."

"You got it! Next?"

Mitch thought he'd try a burger platter and Luke decided on the manhattan as well. Vic opted for a steak and potatoes. Then she turned to Johnny. "And you sweets?"

He looked up and grinned, "I'll have the spaghetti." She nodded, "It's not Stoker's but it's good. Garlic bread, salad with french?"

He nodded and she left to give the cook the orders. "Who's Roy or Stoker, for that matter?" Lisa asked. Johnny grinned. "She meant Mike Stoker, our engineer. He makes the best spaghetti and Roy ," He got a shy look on his face that made Mitch and Lisa exchange glances, "Roy is Roy DeSoto, my paramedic partner and the whole reason I joined the paramedics."

Before he could answer, the food began coming and soon they were all filling their mouths, and thus their tummies, with sustenance. Lisa watched with a hidden smile as Johnny enthusiastically inhaled the large helping of spaghetti, garlic bread and mounds of meatballs. Lisa smiled at her husband, then tilted her head toward Johnny and rolled her eyes. Mitch chuckled as he watched his friend enjoy his food. "That's one thing that will never change," he whispered into her ear, "And that's how much BJ can eat. You remember back in school?" Her eyes twinkled as she nodded.

Mitch found himself lost for a moment in her lovely eyes. Lisa had been the object of his affection since she, a freshman, had been seated next to him in his sophomore English class. In fact the four of them had started their combined history in that same English class. He remembered the day, the second week of school. The bell had just rung and Mitch had escorted the leggy blonde of his dreams to her seat and had just sat down next to her when Mrs. Carmichael had closed the door and announced to the class. "Alright class, time to begin discussion on our first reading assignment."

The groans were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. "Class, I want you to pull out your books and start reading the short story titled "_The Purloined Letter_." She then opened the door, revealing three people standing there; the student counselor, a nun in habit, and a tall gangly youth with very dark hair and tanned skin. The counselor spoke first then the nun. When they had finished, Mrs. Carmichael spoke. They spoke quietly even though every ear strained to hear. It was English but they could only catch a few words. "freshman' "tested high" "put in your class" among them. Mitch heard someone snort, "Charity case from the ghettos. Damned Spics takin' over everywhere." Mitch glanced over at his friend, Lucas, who was half Mexican. Lucas caught the look, shrugged his shoulders then shook his head. Mitch looked back to that interesting grouping.

The boy never once raised his head from where his gaze focused on the floor at his feet. The nun, who had placed her hand on the youth's thin shoulder now gently cupped his chin and directed his gaze upward. She spoke to the boy who nodded his understanding and answered something back in the same language. Then she patted his cheek and left. Mrs. Carmichael directed the boy into the room and he followed her as she sat at her desk. She looked over the paperwork handed her, frowning. The boy's eyes were now looking sidewise, watching the room full of his fellow students from beneath the curtain of black hair that covered his forehead and hung into his eyes. His searching gaze caught on Mitch's and Mitch smiled what he hoped was a friendly smile.

Suddenly Mrs. Carmichael looked up and pinned the youth with her steady stare. "You do speak English, I assume."

"Yes ma'am." His voice was soft.

"I see your name is John. Do you go by anything else?"

He shrugged, "Johnny." came that soft answer.

Mrs. Carmichael shook her head, "That won't do. See we already have too many Johns in this class. Anymore would be confusing."

Mitch could've sworn the boy's complexion paled alittle and he glanced about then back toward the door. Mrs. Carmichael looked back at the paperwork before her as she muttered, "What's your birth date. Ah, here it is. Well, yes, hmm, that will do." She marked something in her grade book, handed him a textbook and informed him. "In this class you will respond to the name BJ. Is that clear?"

He nodded hesitantly and she directed him to the empty seat between Mitch and his friend Luke. Both boys grinned at the new kid as he sat in his seat but he didn't look.

When the bell for dismissal finally rang, most students quickly left their seats but the new kid hesitated as if unsure of what to do next. Mitch and Luke approached him from either side. Both caught the slightly panicked look he threw at each of them and tried smiling. Mitch spoke first, "That's the lunch bell. You wanna join us?"

The boy now named 'BJ' shrugged. He stood carefully as if expecting them to do something. When they didn't he moved with a little more confidence. Lisa came forward, smiling brightly and he gave a faint smile toward her. Together the four made their way toward the cafeteria. They walked him through the line where they all got trays, noticing he showed a card to the cashier at the end. She marked a number on her sheet and motioned him on. As they made their way toward a table, one of the older bigger boys shoved into them, hard, nearly causing BJ to lose his tray. Mitch grabbed the corner and steadied it as Luke pulled himself up to his full height of 6 feet, glaring at them.

"Charity boy. They won't be around you all the time." The other boy sneered. There was no expression change on the face of the new kid. He met the glare of the bully with a stone cold look of his own dark eyes. Finally the people behind them begin to push past and the tension broke. Mitch and Luke hasty moved their little group away.

As they sat and applied themselves to their meal, each tried to get the boy to talk but he never answered with more then a shake or nod or shrug. When he did speak, it was in the same soft voice with one-syllable words. Luke looked at Mitch and they both shrugged. Soon they begin their own conversations, complaining about the homework Mrs. Carmichael had assigned, the creepy story they'd read and how awful the school food was.

Lisa noticed that the new kid had wolfed down his meal as if half starved, then sat drinking his milk. She shoved her half-eaten tray toward him. "Here, you can have mine. I never can finish it all." For an instant, Luke looked at her. All last week she'd given him her leftovers but he looked at the skinny frame next to him and remained quiet. Suddenly he stared hard at the boy, calling out "Hey!" Surprised by the action and word, Johnny looked up and locked gazes with the taller boy. Then Luke's face broke into a wide grin. "You're not Mexican!"

Johnny shook his head, his gaze still on the black eyes before him. Luke pointed a thumb into his chest and with obvious pride announced, "Cahuilla, Agua Caliente."

Johnny blinked then pointed toward himself. "Dakota Sioux, M'Dewakanton." A shy smile completed the strange introduction. Luke grinned and slapped the smaller boy on the shoulder. "Well, hello Cousin! Tell me, what's a River Valley boy like you doing so far west?"

Johnny ducked his head as he shrugged, "No one else wanted me. They sent me here."

Luke's face fell and he sat closer to his new friend. "They sent you to a convent?" Mitch asked. At that, Johnny smiled bigger and each saw a flash of something in that smile. "No," he chuckled, "That's my aunt. She's a nun."

"So, you're an Indian." Lisa asked. The boy nodded. She extended her hand, "Well since no one else in this group has any manners I'll do the honors. I'm Lisa. Lisa Gould and that's Mitch Patterson, and that hulking giant who just nearly took your arm off is Lucas Mendoza."

He nodded to each as introductions were made and now said, "I'm Johnny. Johnny Gage."

Mitch laughed and dared to throw an arm over the other boy's shoulder, "Not any more you're not. You heard what Mrs. Carmichael said, you are now officially BJ." He had felt the boy's shoulder first jerk away from him, but kept his arm right where it was. He liked this shy boy and sensed that underneath he had a great sense of humor. It had showed in that brief lop-sided grin.

A hand closing over his brought Mitch back out of the past and he looked into the beautiful eyes of his wife. "Just remembering that first lunch after Mrs. Carmichael's class." He explained.

Johnny groaned. "I wish I could forget that."

Luke laughed, and Mitch added, "You looked so scared. You looked like if anyone had sneezed you woulda jumped straight out the nearest window.

Johnny nodded in shared memory. "I probably would've. I know I wanted to be anywhere rather than there at the time." He shook his head and shuddered, "Man, am I glad those days are long gone."

Luke slapped him on the shoulder again. "Ahh come on BJ. They weren't too bad. After all, you met us."

Johnny rubbed his shoulder again and answered in a cynical tone, "I rest my case."

The others laughed.

Soon the empty plates were being lifted from the table as coffee cups were set around and fresh hot coffee poured.

"Dessert anyone?" Sheila asked even as she placed a large piece of berry pie alamode in front of Johnny. Mitch laughed, "You really do know him, don't you!?" Sheila nodded. "Well?' Mitch and Lisa shook their heads, but Vic said he wanted to try a piece of the lemon and Luke asked for a fudge sundae. Before long, these too were gone and the five were back to their discussion.

Sensing a story, Lisa leaned forward. "BJ, before the food came, you were telling us about your partner. You said he was the reason you joined the paramedics?" Lisa asked as she sipped her coffee. "What do you mean by that, BJ?"

Johnny launched into the tale of how his chief had been telling him to try for the paramedic program but that he thought he was happy where he was until a failed rescue of an electrocution victim started snowballing things in his mind. Other victims they'd been too late or too unprepared to save flooded his mind and after much thought and a little research on his own, he went to speak with the fireman who was recruiting for the next paramedic class. He told, with glowing eyes, how Roy had retaken the training with Johnny's class then near the end told him he might request Johnny as a partner.

Johnny shook his head, wonder in his voice, "And when I got my new assignment, low and behold if it wasn't at Station 51 with Roy as my senior. We've been together since."

"Sounds like a really great guy." Luke remarked, each could hear the admiration in Johnny's voice whenever he talked about this Roy fellow.

Johnny nodded, 'He is. He's married to a great woman." He patted his stomach and grinned, "who's a great cook, too. They have two of the best kids. Chris and Jen."

"So, any chance we can meet this miracle worker?" Mitch teased. Johnny laughed, "I dunno. I'll try to drag him over before you leave but he's not much on what he calls 'loud music"

"Hmmpphhh, he's heard you play, huh?" Luke asked and all laughed as Johnny shoved his friend.

"Speaking of music, we'd best get back to practice. Sal, our manager, is probably having a cow as we speak." Mitch intervened. Just as they were getting ready to stand, there was a scream. Johnny whirled around but was shoved out of the way and nearly to the floor as four teenaged girls rushed them.

"OHMYGOGOHMYGOD!" one girl screamed over and over as she jumped up and down.

"I told you! I told you!" another one chanted, "I knew it was them. I just knew it!"

The other two pawed at Mitch, shoving pads of paper in his face. "Sign my book! Please Sign my book!"

Vic looked at Mitch then gave a condescending look to where Johnny had been pushed away. The paramedic stood, wide-eyed, next to Sheila. "Our adoring audience has found us." Vic gloated. More girls and soon some guys came through the door and began crowding around the four figures. Vic noticed Johnny's shocked look had faded into a scowl and smiled. '_Yeah, eat your heart out, man. This is the life you gave up. Sucker_.'

Little did Vic know that was the farthest thing from Johnny's thinking. He turned toward Sheila and in a low voice asked, "Can you clear a way for us to leave through the back?" He glanced behind him at the growing mob. "I'm concerned over Lisa. She doesn't need to get pushed down and trampled in her condition."

Knowing the young paramedic spoke from experienced, having worked mob scenes and concerts, Shelia followed his thoughts exactly. She nodded. "You know the route. See if you can get them going. I'll see what I can do here. Should I call the police?"

Johnny looked the crowd over, "Let's see if we can get them out first, but it might be necessary." She nodded and waved at Mac who came barreling out of the kitchen.

Shelia slipped into the back area, going immediately to the phone, as her husband came roaring out.

"What the heck do you think you're doing in my diner?" Mac roared. Most of the shouting and picture flashes stopped in shock. Johnny had elbowed his way through and had grabbed a hold of Lisa, using his body to block any who tried to get near her. Luke had seen what Johnny'd done, and moved to her other side, grabbing Mitch's arm as he did. All five people started moving in the direction Johnny was pulling them. Mac glared at and held off several as he bellowed, "That's enough! If you want to eat, finda table! If not, get out before I call the cops!"

Someone somewhere dropped a glass as a voice said, "You can't; we have the right to see them. It's a public place."

"You're wrong there." A new deep voice bellowed. The crowd parted as a uniformed cop entered the area, another standing at ready just a little behind. "This is a private business. If you are eating here, sit. If not, the owner has asked you to leave." The cop came over to the group Johnny had managed to get out of the table area and closer to the back entrance. He blinked as he recognized the man in civilian clothes holding onto a clearly scared pregnant woman. He sighed, "Gage, why am I not surprised to see you in the middle of all this."

Johnny smiled a greeting, "Hiya Vince, Nice timing. I'll explain later."

Vince nodded, "Yes, you will." He looked over at his partner. "Let's get these folks outta here." Between the two cops, Johnny and Mac, the four performers were soon led through the kitchen. Vince stopped Johnny at the doorway. "I think Brady and I better drive you back to their hotel. I don't think walking is an option right now." He nodded out the windows in front of the diner. Johnny narrowed his eyes as he saw the crowd growing in front of the restaurant.

Mitch nodded. "Thank you, officer. I think you're probably right." He extended his hand and Vince took it as Johnny quickly said, "Oh, Vince Howard, meet the PCH Cruysers. They're in town for the charity concert tomorrow night. This here is Mitch Patterson, his wife Lisa, Luke Mendoza, and Vic Kimmel. Guys, this is Vince, we . . . uhhh, sometimes work together."

Vince tilted his head toward Johnny, "You could explain it that way, I guess. How did you come to know this hot-shot?" He jerked a thumb toward Johnny who rolled his eyes in reaction.

Luke grinned broadly, "Went to high school together." Vince nodded his understanding then looked over at his partner. Brady nodded back and Vince turned to the group once more. "Gage, you know these alleys. Can you get them over to Union street from here?"

Johnny looked around, his face scrunched up in thought then he nodded, "Yeah just a couple blocks south. I can do it." Vince nodded. "Good. We'll met you there and take you straight into the hotel drop-off area." He tapped his helmet as he nodded his head to the group and then left.

Johnny watched him go back through the kitchen and out into the growing mob. He heard the orders being shouted and turned back toward his friends. "Let's go. Vince and the others will take care of this mob." He turned to Sheila as he reached for his wallet. "I'm sorry about what happened. How much . . ." Shelia slapped his hand, "Don't you dare! It wasn't your fault. You should know by now your money isn't any good when we are here."

She turned to the others and said, "However, your tickets come to $15 and 78 cents with tax."

Mitch laughed as he reached for his own wallet. Even as he pulled it out, Shelia grabbed his arm, "I was kidding! I was kidding!" She smiled back at the young fireman. "I guess from all the hoopla that your friends are some sort of celebrities?"

Johnny nodded, "Yeah. They're a band, you know rock singers? They've had a few hit records."

"A few hit records!" Vic started, his eyes flashing, "Why I'll have . . ." Before he could say anymore, he let out a yelp at a sudden pain in his foot. He looked over at Luke in surprise who shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry man, I didn't realize your foot was there." Vic glared at the large man, knowing what he'd done and why. But as he turned back to correct the wrong he felt they'd been given, he found Sheila was walking back toward the kitchen, Johnny beside her. They watched as she hugged the younger man then disappeared back inside.

"Why'd you stop me?" Vic hissed.

"There was no need. Don't you see, ya idiot? These people treated us nice because of _him_, not because we are celebrities. They're _his_ friends." Luke hissed back.

Vic watched the lanky paramedic as he rejoined the group, that irritating grin back in place. "He's a loser. He gave up fame and fortune to play fireman." Vic grumbled. He didn't think he'd said it loud enough for anyone to hear. But he didn't count on hearing that had been honed by listening to each creak and groan of a building, or the fact that Luke was standing right there.

"Well gang, let's go." Johnny said as he led them off. They traveled the back streets, pointing out the different ways people decorated their landings and back entrances. Before they realized it, Johnny had led them back out into the street and over to two waiting police cars. Just before the group split up into the two waiting cars, Mitch turned to Johnny. "Ok BJ, spill it. Why'd the cop assume you'd know the back streets, correctly I might add?"

Before Johnny could answer, Brady did. "Because Gage navigates the squad. We're on the edge of 51's response area here so he has to know it. It could be a matter of life and death."

Vince nodded, "that's right. If, for some reason the main thoroughfares are blocked or too heavy with traffic, Johnny has to know how to direct not only the squad, but the engine if it's following them."

Johnny shrugged as all eyes looked back at him. "Just part of our job. Brady, Vince and the rest hafta know the streets too." Then he motioned them over and into the cars. They were quickly hurried back to the hotel, and security there, who had been notified, whisked them up to their suites, Johnny with them. Once there, Lisa plopped down in a chair with a great sigh. She smiled at Johnny when he kneeled beside her, his hand going instinctively to her wrist as he checked her pulse and respirations. "Always the worrier." She teased. Mitch hovered behind him; Johnny looked up, "A little fast. I suggest she maybe lay down for a while." Mitch opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted as a portly man with a receding hairline and wearing a plaid suit burst in.

"There you are! I've been frantic! I was almost ready to call in the guard." He fumed around the room, "My star performers say they're just gonna take a break, get some food and when I check the rooms? Nobody. And when I check the dining area? Nobody. Nobody knows where they've gone or when they'll get back. Gone, just vanished. Who are you?" He stopped his tirade as he came to a halt in front of Johnny.

"Sal, meet nobody." Vic laughed as he pulled a beer from their bar. He popped the top and guzzled half the bottle in the first drink.

Mitch glared at him and stepped forward. "Relax, Sal, before you have a heart attack. This is our friend, BJ Gage. BJ, this is our manager Sylvester Salkind. BJ showed us a really nice place just down the street and that's where we were."

Sal peered at Johnny, his pale blue eyes intense, "Gage, Gage why does that name sound so familiar, Gage Gage Gage."

Johnny blinked at him and backed up. Suddenly the man stopped and turned back to Mitch, "No matter. It'll come to me later. Now Mitch, baby, we need to get back over to the arena. We have sound checks to do and maybe a little more practicing." He glanced at Johnny. "Your . . . uh, new friend can come too."

He turned around and clapped his hands, "Come on, come one, everybody back onto the bus. Come on."

"Excuse me, Mr. Salkind but I think Lisa should stay here and rest awhile. She's had a rough time and her pulse rate is a little . . ." Johnny began then backed up quickly, nearly tripping over his feet as Sal suddenly rounded back on him. "What are you? Some kind of Doctor? Is that where you were, Mitch? Did you go find a doctor? Well, ok, whatever you want. The doctor can come too but Lisa is going. She can rest on the bus, that's why there are beds there."

"I'm not a doctor," Johnny protested, "I'm . . ."

"He's just a fireman!" Vic howled as he cracked open another beer. Mitch and Luke glared at him but he only laughed, raised the beer in a mock toast and promptly drank deeply. Sal squinted at Johnny. "A fireman? Why'd you get a fireman? I don't think we need a fireman, Mitch. Now a doctor I could understand but a fireman?"

Johnny shook his head and moved forward to grasp Mitch's hand, shaking it firmly. "Mitch, it's been great to see you all again, I can't tell . .."

"Whoa, whoa, Amigo," Luke interrupted him, placing a meaty hand on his shoulder. "You're not leaving, are you? Already?"

"Yeah, BJ come with us. We'll be done in another hour or so." Mitch asked.

Lisa took his hand, "BJ? Are you tired?"

Johnny blinked at her, clearly puzzled, "No. Not really; why?"

Lisa smiled, "I thought maybe you were tired and wanted to get back to bed. After all, we _did_ wake you."

Johnny vehemently shook his head, "No, no I'm not tired. Not right now." He shrugged his shoulders, "It's just that you're . . ."

"We're what?" Mitch broke in. "Come on John. Come with us. Please."

Johnny hesitated then nodded. "Ok. But I'll drive myself over." He looked back at Lisa and gently smiled, "I'm only coming to make sure you take it easy."

Lisa laughed and Mitch slipped his arm around her waist, "Don't worry, fireboy. I'll make sure she lays down while we're on the road and then while we run the sound checks. She doesn't have to be on stage until we actually practice the two numbers she's playing in." As the group trooped out, Mitch called back, "Remember, Blazdell Arena. Have the gate call us and we'll make sure you get in." Johnny nodded and heard Vic's parting shot. "If he really knows the city so well, he should beat us there."

Much later, when the bus pulled into the arena parking lot and up to the closed gate, Luke burst out with, "I'll be damned!" and then laughed hard.

"What? What?" Mitch asked, staring out the window to see what had caught the big man's attention. Luke slapped Vic on the back, making him spill his beer as he crowed, "I should've bet you! It woulda been easy money." He pointed to a strange white jeep-looking vehicle parked near the gate, and the sunglass-wearing figure lying casually on the hood, leaning against the windshield. "He _did_ beat us here!"

By now everyone in the bus was staring out the windows at the sight and laughing. Mitch ran up to the driver and told him, "That car is with us, wave him to follow."

The driver nodded and blasted the horn. Johnny looked up from where he'd been relaxing and seeing the bus, and the waving arm out the window, waved back before sliding off his truck and getting behind the wheel. He followed the bus through the opened gate and around the back roads until it stopped behind the outdoor arena. He parked his Rover and got out, waiting until the bus pulled around into position and the door opened.

"Nice!" He said appreciatively. Mitch waved him in for the grand tour while the others trooped out and began looking over the stage. Lisa looked sleepily up from where she napped on one bed, grinned at her husband and friend and closed her eyes again. Mitch took Johnny throughout the bus, showing him every cool feature.

Afterwards, Johnny made sure he stayed out of the way, watching with clear pride on his face as his friends went through their paces. He sat in the front row and clapped after each song. Sal joined him for a while, still staring at him and occasionally muttering under his breath, "Gage, Gage, a fireman. What is it about a fireman?" But Johnny chose to ignore him.

Finally, after about two hours, Mitch waved Johnny to join them on the stage. Johnny eagerly came bounding up the stairs, his face alight with a grin. "That was awesome! It's great to hear you guys live. Your concert is gonna be incredible, just incredible!"

"Been sold out for two weeks," Sal looked pleased and Mitch laughed. "And you're coming right? And bring your partner and his family. We'd love to meet them." Johnny's grin faded a little.

"I . . .uh, I don't think I can, Mitch. I . . .uh."

Vic snorted, "I bet he couldn't afford the tickets! They don't pay firemen much!" He laughed at his own joke but Mitch looked stunned. "BJ? Is he right?"

Johnny gave a sardonic grin, "Oh he's right. They don't pay firemen much."

Mitch rolled his eyes, "No, fireboy. I mean that you don't think you can come because you don't have tickets."

Johnny looked down at his shoe tops. Mitch gave a big sigh. "BJ, you never have to have tickets to any of our concerts. Any time you can get to one, just walk in, You are part of the PCH Cruysers, always were and always will be. . ." He faced Sal, "Ya hear that Sal? Any time, anywhere, if he's there, he and who ever is with him walks right in, understood?"

Sal shook his head, "Sure sure, Mitch. VIP treatment I get it. Gage, Gage why do I know that?"

Johnny smiled, "Thanks. I'll be here. Right up front." Mitch nodded and Lisa smiled brightly at him. As the rest began to place their instruments away, Johnny found himself drifting toward the shining drum set. He reached out a long finger and tapped gently on the symbol.

"Ya wanna try it?" Vic slurred. Johnny jumped at the proximity of his voice. He hadn't realized Vic had followed him. Vic reached out, and attempted to place a set of sticks in Johnny's hand but he jerked away.

"Com' on hotshot," Vic's voice held a bit of a sneer to it. "Afraid to try? I thought you were 'all that' on a set. That's all I heard from these guys the first three months I hired on. The great hotshot, BJ, what a great guy he was."

Mitch glared at the other man, "Cool it, Kimmel."

Vic glanced his way but the sneer didn't leave his face. "Yeah right. OK. I'll cool it. Guess the fireman can't take a little heat."

Johnny refused to let any part of his body show how the other man's words had affected him. He continued his conversation with Luke as if Vic had never spoke. "You know. I'm really glad things have gone as well as they have for you. No longer struggling, playing local parties and those smelly nightclubs." He laughed as Lisa made a noise in her throat. "Yeah, some of the places . .." She shuddered and Johnny chuckled along with Mitch and Luke as they remembered their less than easy start.

"Guess you can say we paid our dues." Luke sighed.

Johnny nodded, "So, did you get that other record contract? I've been watchin' how you guys were doing. I've even heard you several times on the radio."

"Watchin'. That's all you can do, fireboy. Watch and dream there was more to your pathetic life." Vic laughed as he took another long drink from the bottle in his hand.

Now Luke turned around, anger on his face. "That's enough to drink and enough out of your mouth. You don't know what you're talking about; you're just flappin' your lips."

Vic raised his hands in mock fear, "oooooh! The silent one speaks and sticks up for the stick! I'm so scared." He laughed and took another drink, polishing off the bottle.

Johnny watched, his face carved in stone. A gentle hand touched his elbow. "You can if you really want too, BJ. I know you're not out of practice." Johnny turned to face Lisa's smiling blue-green eyes. She nodded.

"How. . .how did you . . ."

She laughed, "Your former landlady? The one who lets you practice over in her garage? Ms. Willamina Mueller is my Aunt Winne."

Johnny's eyes went wide. In a flash, he was once more at one of the saddest decisions of his life. His landlady had sold off her properties, sighting growing health problems and an "Offer too good to pass up" as her reasoning. Most of the residents had understood and paid the newer higher rent. However Johnny, who had just gone through paramedic training, didn't have the funds and had had to move to a smaller place closer to his new Station. It had been with a heavy heart that he'd filled out several 3x5 index cards with items he no longer had the room for in his apartment. One of them being his beloved drum set.

He had just placed the thumbtack through the card and fastened it to the corkboard in the supermarket entrance when a hand touched his elbow. "Johnny?"

He turned and smiled down at the diminutive woman looking up at him. She reached out and hugged him tightly, "Johnny! It is you! I thought it looked like you when I saw you standing there." She tightened her arms around his ribs and frowned, "You're too thin!" He laughed at the familiar comment.

"Hey Mrs. M! Nice to see you? How are you doing? Enjoying that life of ease now that you're retired?" Johnny grinned as he teased.

Mrs. M swatted his arm, "Retired, pooh. I'm busier now then I was with those properties. Seems the church is always needing this or the grandkids that." She teased back as she secretly scrutinized the tall man before her. He seemed taller, or maybe he carried himself straighter, with more confidence. He had filled out from the skinny kid who had first come to her seeking a place he could afford on his new firefighter's pay. She'd never let him know she knew him before he became one of her favorite tenants, when he was the shy teen who hung around with her niece and her band.

"So, how is the medical business? How do you like your new station?" She let her gaze go up to the board, then a frown covered her face as she pulled off the cards and read through them. She looked back at the man before her as he ducked his head and scuffed the toe of his shoe, "Johnny! What is the meaning of this? Surely you don't want to sell your drums?!" He shrugged, his head still down as he answered in a soft voice, "I have no choice."

She 'humpphhdd' and grabbed his elbow, pulling him along with her, "You always have a choice, young man. I've told you that plenty of times. There's a nice pharmacy next door with a soda fountain in it. Come share a coffee with an old lady and tell me all about it."

Johnny smiled as he let himself be dragged off. Part of him had missed this, a older woman role model who would fuss over him, worry over him and give him advice. He hadn't had that since his aunt moved back to San Salvador and he'd moved from Mrs. M's.

Soon they were seated in a booth, both with a cup of coffee before them and Johnny with the remnants of a banana split, which Mrs. M had bought, saying she had a craving for them only to have taken a few bits before proclaiming it "Too rich for my stomach" and shoving it toward Johnny. She'd watched in ill concealed pleasure as the young man devoured the treat, then sat back with a contented sigh to sip his coffee.

She sat forward and laid the cards on the table. Part of her cringed as her companion's face instantly fell. She tapped the cards with a thin finger. "Tell me about this, Johnny."

He shrugged again, eyes down. "Not much to tell. I don't have the time anymore."

She slapped the table and his head jerked upward, brown eyes wide. "Don't try to kid an old trickster, young man."

He gave a slow nod and dropped his head again but didn't speak. She laid a gentle hand on his, her voice soft as she asked again. "I asked you before but you didn't answer. How do you like your new station and your new job?'

He shrugged as he fiddled with the handle on his cup. ""S awright."

She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Honestly, getting information from you sometimes is like pulling teeth. So you hate your new field, and hate your new station, the guys are all mean cranky old men who do nothing but burp and scratch and call you 'kid' and say 'when I was your age'…."

He laughed, "No, most of the guys are probably around my age, but I am still the youngest. And we get along fairly well I guess."

She nodded, reading more into what he was saying, "So it's the job. Did your partner, what was his name, Ray? He turned out to be a real jerk." She goaded.

Right on queue, his head popped up as he shook it furiously, "No, oh no. I couldn't ask for a better partner. Roy's been great! You know he retook the class with us at Rampart. He really helped me a lot. And the job? Man once we got the green light, it's been incredible, just incredible." And he was off and babbling. Mrs. M both watched him and listened to him, nodding in the appropriate times as she hid a smile. It was clear by his excitement he'd really found his calling and enjoyed every minute. She'd seen that the active life of a fireman had changed his physique as well. Gone was the wiry thin teen body of a runner she'd first known and in its place was a heavier more muscular but still lanky version.

She let him talk and when there was a long pause, she tried again. Tapping the card, she looked pointedly at him. His eyes clouded and he shrugged slightly. She knew the drum set meant more to him then just an item. She knew the story of how he'd worked odd jobs to raise the money to buy his own set, having his eye set on one the school's had rented and the store now was selling as used for a reasonable price. Knew that just as he'd had enough money, he'd been robbed when he'd come to the aid of an older woman also being robbed by four youths. Johnny had managed to turn the attention from the woman, giving her time to hurry into a near by store before the gang had over powered him, dragged him into an alley, beaten him and left with his wallet. He'd spent three worrisome days in the hospital, half of that unconscious. When he'd returned home, he'd been surprised to find the drum set in his bedroom. The only thing his aunt would tell him was it was God's reward for his good act and that he must promise to learn the drumming of his own people as well as "that long haired screaming stuff". That, he had willingly done.

As her tenant, Mrs. M had placed him in the end apartment, over her own place, so that no one would complain. Even though he knew that where he'd been placed isolated him somewhat, he'd been considerate of others, most of his playing came in early evenings, before most tenants got home from work and those with babies were up from their naps. She'd liked hearing the steady rhythms coming from his room.

She watched him fidget a little longer before she said, "Truth John."

He sighed, "I'm in the middle of the second floor. There's a young couple with two toddlers below me, a man who works nights on one side of me and a grumpy old woman who complains if the wind is rattling the windows on the other. Besides, my place is really small, just a bedroom with a tiny bath and a large room for kitchen, living area." He shrugged again, "I've got no place to even store it." He smiled as the clerk refilled their cups and took a long drink before he continued, "Besides, I really don't have the time anymore."

Mrs. M looked over the other cards, seeing his couch also listed as well as his dining room table and some of his camping gear. She made a fast decision. "Well, Johnny. I'm soooo glad I ran into you. As it turns out, I'm in a bit of a pickle myself and you just might be able to help me out."

He raised his eyebrows at her and she nodded. "Yes. You know my Albert died two years ago." He nodded, he'd helped her arrange the funeral, even though he'd ended up on duty that day so unable to attend, but had still been a great comfort to the grieving woman. "Well, there are some things around the place that just need a man's touch."

He grinned at her, his sparkling eyes telling her he was on to her. "Such as. . .?" He drawled.

She looked him straight in the eye, daring him to call her bluff. "Such as mending the fence. Cutting the grass. Replacing some shingles taken off during that last storm… just stuff like that."

He nodded, "OK. I can do that. Just tell me when and where."

She flipped one of the cards over and wrote her address down, not missing his lop-sided grin when he saw it was the card offering his drum set. She handed it to him. "When is whenever you can. I live kinda far out there and you know I'm up all hours of the day and night. Durn arthritis." He chuckled, he did know, having heard her walking around her apartment when he lived above her. She looked him dead in the eye again and spoke in her best 'You will do as I say' voice. "I will pay you for what you do." She cut off his expected protest. "Your payment will be the unlimited use of one of the out buildings. You can use it as storage or build a workshop in there, whatever you want. It's yours as long as the property in mine. I have no use for it, it's just sitting there newly built and empty."

She stopped and her eyes misted over, "Albert was going to use it as his own place to get away and do his fly tying and his woodworking. He never got to use it." She smiled at the warm hand that had covered hers and turned her own so she could gently squeeze the long fingers. "He's even got some sort of tools in one of the rooms all set up with a special vacuum and everything. You have full access to everything in there, as I said." She squeezed his hand again and looked him in the eye, "Deal?"

He grinned broadly at her, "Deal."

Since then, sometimes when she knew he'd had a rough shift, she could hear the faint sound of the drums. Or perhaps the saw or drill. Things around her place were steadily fixed and improved. The mailbox on its metal pole was replaced by one in a wooden stand with a built in flower box on it. A new railing had appeared around her wrap around porch as well as other things. Sometimes, she'd fix him a meal and insist he join her as she'd "made too much" or was feeling "a little melancholy". He never seemed to realize those days also seemed to occur on the ones where he had been down. She never let him know she could tell by how she'd hear him play or what he was doing or the fact that a few times when it had been silent too long, she'd crept to the window and seen him hunched over, head buried in his hands. Mrs. M had also kept her favorite niece informed over their friend, sending any articles in the paper which featured the paramedics and in particular, Station 51. So Lisa was very aware of what her friend had been doing in the last few years, even if he didn't realize it.

Lisa nudged his shoulder gently as she repeated, "I know you're not out of practice. What say you. For old time sake?"

"Yeah," Lucas chimed in, "Come on BJ. Let's rock like we used ta!"

He grinned at the hulking man then turned to see Mitch nodding as well. "Weeeeelll. . . "

"Here's a set of sticks," Mitch added, snapping them into the paramedic's hand as if they were surgical instruments. Johnny chuckled. He walked toward the drum set as Vic made a show of moving out of his way with an exaggerated bow. Johnny ignored him as he settled himself on the stool. He carefully adjusted it until he felt comfortable. He looked up at the three expectant faces, again ignoring the smirking one. "What should I do?"

"Try warm ups, hotshot." Vic teased, then yipped at the rough elbow in his ribs from the bass player. But Johnny turned the sticks around in his hand and tried a few taps on the snare. Then he tried a roll, increasing his speed then slowing it then increasing it again. He kept that up as he added a bass line with the bass drum then began to work in the tom-tom rack. It didn't take long before he'd found a rhythm all his own and worked the set, first fast then slow and steady and then sped up again. He finally ended with a flourish and with the cymbals gradually fading off, there was silence. Pulling himself back to the here and now with the clearing of a throat, he suddenly became aware of his audience once more. His wide brown eyes took in the sparkling look Lisa and Mitch exchanged then the sound of clapping caught his attention. Luke was the clapper, the grin on his face big enough to rival any Johnny could come up with. The sound grew as Lisa and Mitch added their hands then Vic and Sal. Johnny ducked his head, his cheeks red with embarrassment.

"well whatdayaknow! He _still_ blushes!" Mitch crowed and Johnny turned even redder as they all laughed. Vic stepped forward, the sneer gone from his face as he shook his head in wonder, his hand extended. "Man, I gotta admit. I was wrong and they were right. You _are_ good." Then he gave a mock glare, making sure the paramedic knew it was in play by giving him a quick wink. "Hey man, ya aren't after my job, are ya?"

"Yes!" Another voice added, "I didn't know you were going to get another drummer, Mitch. He's good, really good." The stocky man pulled a pad of paper out of his pocket and began leafing through it. "Hmmmm, I can get another drum set from King's and have it delivered around supper time. That'll give you more time to practice. Let's see . . ." he shuffled off and Lisa nodded in his direction. Mitch sighed and called out loudly. "Sal! Sal! Wait Sal, don't make any plans. There's no point."

Sal stopped and turned back, his round face bewildered, "Why not? He's really good." Mitch grabbed his guitar as he winked at Lucas. "You think so? Well, you haven't heard anything yet. Naked Heart, guys."

Instantly Johnny began the starting beats as the bass guitar joined him. Soon Mitch's guitar picked up the melody while Lisa accented the harmony with the keyboard. The band preformed just as if they were once more playing a gig from years ago. Both Vic and Sal watched from the sides, listening as Johnny softly sang counter to Mitch and Lisa's melody. When the song was over, Luke immediately went into another one and the other three joined him. At the end of that one, Johnny started another beat as Lucas burst out laughing and Mitch groan and shook his head. Lisa giggled, "Like you thought BJ would forget that one?? It's all he ever wanted to play at the end of each practice."

The leader sighed as he fingered the guitar in the riff part of the song and the drums and guitar began having a contest over who could out do whom while the bass kept a steady line and the keyboard played a repetitious series of cords in accent. Finally the last notes were played and the four stopped, looking at each other, Johnny breathing a little heavier for his exertions. Then as one they all began laughing.

Sal stepped forward again. "OK, Mitch I think we should add him. He really is good. Now, what's the problem? He asking too much? We can work on that. Just . . ."

At the same time Vic stepped over to the drums and eagerly extended his hand, "Man! You are Far OUT! I can see now what Mitch meant!" He smiled broadly, "You sure you aren't after my job, man."

Johnny grinned as he twirled the sticks between his long fingers. "No, man. I only drum now to relax. I really do love my job and won't give it up right now for anything."

That caught Sal's attention, "Job? You have a job? With who? Is it a big group?"

Johnny's grin widened, "The biggest group."

Sal frowned, "Oh. A big name huh? Well, is the pay good? Maybe we can do better."

Johnny chuckled, "Probably, the pay sucks." Sal grinned again but it flipped as Johnny continued, "But the fringe benefits are incredible."

"Incredible huh. Any chance I can woo you away? Your name in lights? On the bills?" Sal tried to think of what he could offer the young man, stating a few figures that made Johnny's eyes widen but Johnny still shook his head.

In the background, Mitch, Lisa and Lucas watched the show, barely containing their laughter. Finally it was Vic who had had enough and demanded. "Well then just what is this incredible job that you won't leave." He was sure all that teasing earlier about this guy being a fireman was a inside joke or something. It had to be, nobody who played like that turned their back on a sure-fire career with a band on the top.

Johnny grinned broadly, his eyes sparkling as he flipped the sticks in his hand, caught them and tapped a quick rhythm on the snare edge. He ended with a flourish and quieted the residue as he said. "I'm a firefighter and Paramedic with the Los Angeles County Fire Department."

Four people burst into laughter at the looks of pure disbelief on both Sal's and Vic's faces.

"No way, no way! All that talent and you're wasting it running into burning buildings??!!" Sal was incredulous. Vic's mouth hung open; they had been right. This BJ really was a fireman!

"Not only does he run into them," Lisa added, her voice mischievous, "He pulls people out of them, medically treats them on the scene and then rides with them in the ambulance to assist the doctor once they get to the hospital."

"Oh and it's not just burning buildings." Mitch added as he grinned at his wife, "He also rescues people from wrecked cars, and from collapsed buildings, from broken elevators, from broken scaffolds, as well as responds to people having heart attacks, and all sorts of other ills."

Johnny made a rueful face. "What. You guys been reading the squad's logbook?" His three friends in-the-know laughed. "We'll never tell." Lisa sing-songed.

Johnny closed his eyes and groaned. "Mrs. M. I forgot." Lisa nodded as Johnny heaved a great sigh.

"You really are a fireman? I mean a real honest ride on a red firetruck fireman?" Vic's eyes couldn't get any wider. Johnny nodded then shrugged. "Well, I am a fireman and I do sometimes ride the engine when I sub at another station but mostly I ride in the squad."

"Squad. What's that man?" Vic was confused. Suddenly as if cued, the sound of a siren cut through the air. Instantly Johnny's demeanor changed and each person noticed. He stood up, his back straight, his muscles straining with the intensity in which he watched the little red truck weaving through traffic, a large engine following behind, blasting it's air horn at the surrounding traffic. Once the vehicles were nearly out of sight, Lisa broke the spell cast over the group as she softly said, "_That_ is a squad."

Johnny nodded, his eyes searching the skyline in the direction the emergency vehicles were headed. "Yeah, that's Station 36. We're right on the edge of their district here. I don't see a header so it's probably not a structure fire or if it is, it's not bad yet. Not many residentials out that way. They were headed toward the mall, could be a medical call or a TA." He muttered as if to himself.

Vic watched him then let his breath out in a whoosh, "I stand corrected, man. You _are_ a fireman."

Johnny broke his attention from the faded siren and turned back to his friends. He raised his eyebrows as he questioned, "Hmmm?"

Sal shook his head, a frown on his round face, "Well. I still think your talent is wasted. Any idiot can beat on a drum but it takes someone special to make it talk and you, young man, had that drum chanting."

But Johnny's attention had turned again toward where Vic had wandered, still shaking his head and muttering low as he made for the cooler on the edge of the stage. He didn't see that his foot had caught on a coil of cabling. As he lifted his foot to shake it loose, he staggered backwards and ran out of stage.

Johnny shouted out a warning as he started running just as Vic's arms windmilled, the unopened beer flying and he pitched off the edge. Johnny reached the edge first, dropped to a crouch and leapt off the stage. By the time the others joined him, he was kneeling beside the drummer, his hands bracing the man's neck and telling him in a soothing voice. "It's awright now, Vic. I got you. Now don't move and I'll check you over, ok?"

Johnny looked up and at Luke, "Call the fire department. Tell them we have a man down from a fall of about eight feet and tell them to respond a squad and an ambulance." Luke nodded even as he raced off. Mitch knelt beside his friends, one hand on Vic's shoulder. "What do you need, BJ?"

"My left rear pocket, a clean handkerchief. Pull it out and press it on that cut on his forehead. We need to control the bleeding. Sal? Can you come here?" Sal immediately joined the two but was trembling so badly Johnny knew he wouldn't be able to help much. Two more stagehands joined them and Johnny called to them. "You, with the red shirt. Can you kneel down right by me?"

The man grinned, "I have some first aid training. What do you need?"

Johnny gave a brief smile, "Do you know how to hold c-spine?"

The guy moved his hands closer to where Johnny's were. "I've never done it but I've seen it. Support the neck in exactly the position you have it, right?"

Johnny nodded, making sure the guy's hands were placed correctly before he moved away. "No Vic. Don't try to move at all. We don't know what all you've hurt so just stay still. I'll do all the work, ok?"

Johnny ran his hands down Vic's body, catching the wince over the ribs but felt no give or crepitus. He then moved on to palpitate the man's abdomen, again finding nothing more then some tenderness. He moved on down to his legs and found a reaction on the ankle that had been caught in the cable. He moved on to his arms, finding soreness and some minor scrapes. He moved his attention to his patient's eyes, using his hand and the sun to check for reactions. He felt around his skull for any other abnormalities. Then Luke came running back, "I got them, BJ. They're on their way."

Johnny nodded, noticing his friend's red face and increased inhalations so he turned to the other stagehand. "Could you go to the entrance and guide them back here?" With a nod, the guy was gone. Soon the sound of a siren coming closer had each person, but Johnny giving a sigh of relief. Johnny couldn't relax yet. He checked the bleeding, frowning over the still bleeding laceration. At least it was now a trickle but the handkerchief was nearly soaked through.

Just as he was going to ask Lisa for something else, two figures loaded down with equipment skidded to a stop. "What have we . . . Johnny?!"

Johnny reached for the trauma box, flipped it open and removed a c-collar even as he flashed a quick grin of greeting, "Hey Beckman, Bobby. I wondered if it'd be you guys responding. Saw 36's go by a bit ago."

"Yeah, they got a TA off Spencer." Karl Beckman answered as he dropped to his knees, pulling a BP cuff out as he did so. "What have we got?"

Johnny had finished applying the c-collar and the stage-hand moved back out of the way, standing with the others to watch the three paramedics work. "Victor here got his foot caught in a cable coiled up there on stage and fell. He's . . .uhhh, ETOH too. Pupils are reactive but sluggish. Respirations been steady and even at 14. Pulse strong at 86. I think he caught the edge of that stand there as he fell and that's how he got the lac." Johnny nodded toward the metal stairs pushed up to the stage nearby.

"There's tenderness over the right ribs but no bruising showing yet and no crepitus. Abdomen is unremarkable. There are some abrasions on the arms but no

deformities. There is marked swelling and deformity with pain Right ankle." Johnny finished as he removed the handkerchief and replaced it with a 4x4. He held firm pressure on it as Bobby set up the biophone and called it in. He looked up, "Rampart wants to know if the victim ever lost consciousness." He looked down into Vic's wide hazel eyes as he stared bewilderedly around him.

"Tell him negative. Victim has been conscious and talking. He's a little unfocused now but that could be from the ETOH or the head injury." Johnny supplied. Bobby Roberts turned back to the phone as Johnny checked the wound again, seeing the bleeding almost stopped, placed another folded 4x4 over the current one and taped it down.

"Off-duty paramedic who witnessed the accident says negative, Rampart. He also advised patient has been using ETOH. Slight slurring of speech and unfocused gaze unknown if from that or the head injury." He listened and nodded, repeating. "10-4 Rampart. IV normal saline, TKO, monitor vitals, splint ankle and transport." He grinned as he heard Johnny parroting the exact words he'd heard over the receiver.

Behind him others too had heard and stared down, open mouth, at the paramedic in civvies. Beckman grinned at his fellow firefighter as he readied the splint. "You've been doing this toooo long, Gage."

Johnny scoffed as he quickly set up the IV line. He smiled reassuringly at Vic and said, "The hospital ordered an IV. You'll feel a little prick." He had the needle set before the man could react.

"I don't like needl . . . hey!" Vic started to protest then stopped as he realized Johnny was done and only taping the line down. "I didn't even feel that!"

Beckman grinned at the patient, "That's 'cause Gage here is one of the best in the business. He and his partner were one of the first paramedic teams ever in all of LA County."

Johnny blushed as Bobby snickered. "Shut up, Roberts." Johnny muttered then turned to Beckman answering his earlier statement. "I've only been doing this for two years. But you have to admit, Brackett is the one stuck in the routine. He always orders normal saline for ETOH and the rest is standard."

Beckman titled his head, "True, but you'd hafta have worked with Brackett a long time to know that."

Johnny sighed heavily, "Why do I even try." Bobby chuckled deeply as he laid a sympathetic arm over Johnny's shoulder, "Face it, Gage. Paramedicing is in your blood."

The other band members, Sal and the two stage hands, all watched wide eyed, surprised at how quickly they'd watched this very talented drummer suddenly turn into this very efficient and obviously well experienced rescue worker. Johnny handled the IV and equipment with the same ease his hands had handled the drumsticks just moments before. Lisa, Mitch and Luke shared astonished looks that grew into big grins as they witnessed their friend in his chosen career.

They all looked up at the sound of another engine coming near. Soon a gurney rolled up. The two attendants nodded to the paramedics, "Roberts, Beckman. Gage what are you doing here? Just can't stay away from the job huh?"

"Funny Michaels, funny." Johnny muttered. He leaned over the supine man. "Vic? We're gonna move you onto the gurney now and take you to the hospital. You just relax; let us who are paid for it do all the work."

Vic smiled at the teasing tone, "All right man, I'll leave it all to you fireboys." Johnny grinned and tapped his shoulder, "That's the spirit." He positioned himself at Vic's head and nodded to the others. On my mark, one, two, three." They lifted the man as one and placed him on the gurney. The attendants positioned the blanket then the straps and soon Vic was being lifted into the back of the ambulance. Beckman crawled in, Johnny handed him the biophone and the drug box which he'd carried over. Then he shut the door firmly and gave it two swift taps. The ambulance roared off, Bobby grinned at Johnny as he placed the trauma box into it's compartment. "See you at Rampart!" Then he left, following the ambulance.

Johnny turned to the others. "I can give you a ride to the hospital in my truck. It might be a little crowded . . ."

Sal shook his head. "I'll drive too, that way we'll be able to bring Vic back."

Johnny made a face. "Um, Sal? I can just about guarantee they'll hold him over night for observation."

Sal looked pale.

"BJ, you sure?" Mitch asked.

Johnny nodded, "Yeah, at the least they'll want to make sure all the alcohol is out of his system. Head wounds can be tricky and the alcohol won't make it any easier." As he'd been talking, Johnny was leading them over to his Rover. The three men crawled into the backseat and Lisa settled into the front. They weren't as crowded as Johnny had thought. Johnny checked to make sure everyone was in and belted before he started up and headed out.

"So," Mitch's voice broke the silence. "That was an example of what you do."

"Yeap," Johnny nodded. "That was a typical call. We get a lot of falls."

"Young man, I take it back." Sal's voice suddenly sounded.

Johnny looked into the rear view mirror and saw those blue eyes looking straight into his. "Take what back?" He asked, his voice showing his puzzlement.

"You are a talented drummer, there is no denying that." Sal began, his mouth twisting as if he were tasting each word as he said it, "But you have another talent, one that I think we saw only a tiny piece of today. And that has a greater hold on you."

Johnny grinned but his eyes were serious as was his voice, "Yeah, you're right; it does."

Nothing more was spoken as Johnny drove. Soon he pulled into the hospital parking lot and found parking. He led them around to the ER doors, passing the squad parked there. Another squad was next to it, this one with a gold "51" on the side. As they walked in, two paramedics in uniform were walking out, "Hey Gage! You just can't stay away huh?"

Johnny grinned, "Hey Dwyer, Franks. Hard run?"

Tom Dwyer made a face and shook his head, "Naw, a guy got his hand smashed good with a sledge hammer while trying to build a fence. Doc thinks he broke several of the carpals."

Johnny made a face, "Ouch." Just then the HT in Frank's hand beeped, "Squad 51, what is your status?" a voice called

"Squad 51 available at Rampart." Franks answered.

"Squad 51 man down. 1086 Indiana Avenue, 1-0-8-6- Indiana Avenue, Cross street Oaksdale. Time out 17:35."

"Squad 51 10-4." Franks said. He looked up at Johnny. "Later Gage." Dwyer too raised his hand in leave-taking and the two climbed into the truck and roared off, lights and siren on as soon as they exited the grounds. Johnny watched them disappear and the ones around him watched Johnny.

"That was your squad, wasn't it?" Mitch's question was more of a statement.

Johnny nodded, "Yeah, that was my station."

"Like I said, it has a greater hold." Sal muttered. Johnny shook himself and turned back to his friends. He gave a grin. "Let's find out how Vic is." He led the way into the emergency room.

He looked around at the nurses coming and going, several smiled at the off duty paramedic and called out, "Hi Johnny." Johnny acknowledged each with a name. Another nurse went by, asking as she did, "Bored of your time off already Johnny?"

Johnny laughed. Another nursed came by and shook her head at him, "Weren't you just in here this morning, Johnny? Don't tell me you've hurt yourself again."

Johnny gave her a grin, "Nope, I'm fine. It was someone else."

"Awful busy isn't it?" Lisa asked as she looked around at the various people in medical garb coming and going out of rooms carrying all sorts of items. Johnny looked around and shrugged, "Nope. For a holiday weekend, it seems kinda slow."

"Oh Great, Johnny. Jinx the whole department why don't you." A voice came from behind them. They turned to see, Bobby Roberts standing in the hallway. Johnny grinned, "I just don't want you guys to get bored."

Roberts snorted, "more'n likely you're just tryin' ta make sure we have as much "fun" " he made quote marks in the air with his fingers, "on our shift as you did on yours."

Johnny laughed, "That too." Then he sobered. He motioned with his head toward the closed door, "How's Vic?"

Roberts shrugged, "He stayed the same all the way in. Early's in with him now. They just took the x-rays."

Just then the door opened and Dr. Early's grey head stuck out. "Bobby, when you called this in, you said there was an off duty paramedic who witnessed the . . .Oh hi Johnny! What are you . . .?" The doctor suddenly stopped speaking, dropped his head and shook it slowly. When he looked back up, Johnny was grinning at him widely. Dr. Early grinned as well, "I should've known. You just can't stay away from the job, can you?"

"Nope!" Johnny agreed, "I keep tryin' but it follows me." Dr. Early came out and let the door shut behind him. "Very well then Mr. Off Duty Paramedic Witness, I have some questions for you."

Johnny's grin got bigger, "Fire away Doc."

The two walked a little ways away over to the coffee pot by the nurse's station. Dr. Early poured a cup and gave it to Johnny then poured another for himself. The HT in Roberts' hand beeped. He motioned to Beckman who nodded and the two headed out after waving a good-bye to their friend.

Not knowing what else to do, the three remaining performers and their manager moved toward the chairs they could see at the end of the hallway. From there they observed the comings and goings of the hospital. They saw more blue uniformed paramedics bringing in patients on gurneys. They saw Johnny still talking with the doc. It was a whole new world and one foreign to them but obviously one their friend was comfortable in.

"You here for someone?" A voice asked. Lisa jumped and Mitch laid a hand on her shoulder. They both turned to the older man seated next to them. He smiled invitingly and Lisa answered, "A friend. He fell."

"Well you've come to the best place. See that grey haired doctor there, the one talking to that young man?' They nodded, knowing it was the doctor talking to Johnny. "Well, he's a top-notch neurosurgeon. One of the best in his field. And see that dark haired good looking fellow who just came out of that room? That's Dr. Kelly Brackett, the head of this whole department. He's a leader in the whole field of Emergency Medicine, trained at John Hopkins and is a sought after speaker all over the country for his know-how on emergency medicine. You can't find a better group of doctors, nurses or paramedics than right here. Why some of the best rated paramedics in the whole county operate out of this hospital."

Luke grinned at his friends as he told the old man, "Yeah. I think we just saw one in action."

The old man smiled kindly, "Paramedics responded to your friend huh. Great bunch of talented men." Just then a smiling nurse came forward. "Mr. Jenkins? Your daughter is back from the cast room. You can see her now if you want." The man left with the nurse, leaving the group alone.

Just then, they saw Johnny finishing his conversation with the doctor and hurried over to meet him. Johnny was grinning, "Well, it's like I said. Doc wants to keep him at least over night and possibly most of tomorrow. Looks like he's got a mild concussion and a severely sprained ankle. He'll have to stay off of it for a while."

"Concussion? Aren't those like bruising of the brain?" Mitch asked.

Johnny made a face, "Well, sorta. Yeah, I guess you could describe it like that."

"So what does that mean? I mean will he get all freaky or forgetful?" Mitch asked.

Luke rolled his eyes and snorted, "Like if he did, we'd notice a difference?"

They chuckled softly. Johnny shook his head, "No, not usually. He might forget how he got injured but it doesn't seem to be serious enough for more than that. Most likely he'll have one hellava headache, be a little dizzy and his eyes might be a little sensitive to bright lights. But those systems usually dissipate in a day or so."

Lisa frowned at him, "You look like you speak from experience."

Johnny let out a sharp laugh, "Yeah, I've seen my share of concussions in this business, had a few myself." He shrugged, "Like I said, Doc's pretty sure it's mild but he just wants to hold him a while to make sure. After they get him up to a room, they'll let you go see him."

Mitch and Sal looked at each other and frowned but before they could say anything else, a deep voice caught their attention. "Johnny? I thought that was you. What are you doing here? Isn't today your day off?" They turned to see the man whom they'd been told was the head of the department headed their way.

Johnny turned, grinning. "Hey Doc. Yeah, I'm off. A friend got hurt and I sorta helped bring him in." Johnny waved around himself to include the others. "These are friends of mine. They're going to be performing in your fund raiser concert tomorrow. This is Mitch Patterson, his wife Lisa and Lucas Mendoza. Oh and their manager, Sal Salkind. Guys, this is Dr. Kelly Brackett, head of this department and my boss."

Brackett looked at the people standing around, smiled briefly at them, shaking hands that were offered. "Well, I certainly want to think you for your help. Emergency Medicine is a much needed area and one that can be a great help to every community." That professional speech said, he turned to his paramedic with a frown.

"Johnny, you sound like you ate a little smoke. You were in that fire this morning, weren't you?" Johnny nodded. Brackett crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at his paramedic. "Did you come in and get checked out?" He stopped and grabbed up the wrapped arm, "What's this? Were you burned? Or is this a laceration? Step in here and let me listen to your lungs, you might need a breathing treatment."

The others looked shocked. Hadn't they just been told that this was the head of the emergency department? That would make him a very busy man as well as being a well-known doctor. And here he was, speaking to an ordinary fireman as if they were close friends. Then _what_ the doctor was saying sank in. His voice? They looked at each other, realizing that they hadn't noticed anything about Johnny's voice. Now that they paid attention, they noticed there was a huskiness to it, maybe a little horsiness.

Johnny rolled his eyes, "Doc, I'm ok. Yes, I ate a little smoke and yes, I got a little cooked but I came in and got all checked over."

"Oh?" Brackett still held the paramedic in his gaze, "I know you, John Gage. You don't usually . . ."

"Roy dragged me in here as soon as we were relieved. Cap knew about it too. I saw Mike Morton." Johnny sighed. "Dixie can back me up."

"Back who up where?" came a clear sultry voice. A manicured hand lay gently on Johnny's shoulder and he turned to face the ash blonde nurse with a lop-sided grin. "Hiya Dix."

"Hi yourself, Johnny," she replied, "Now back who up where?" She repeated.

Johnny jerked his thumb toward Dr. Brackett. "Dix, would you tell the Doc I was checked out this morning?"

Dixie smiled, "Of course Johnny. For you, nearly anything." She turned to Brackett, "Kel. Johnny _was_ in here this morning, about dead on his feet I might add. Roy dragged him in around 9 and I wrapped his arm myself, second degree burns, not too bad. He had one breathing treatment and then was sent home." She looked hard now at the paramedic, "To his _bed_, to _rest_." She stressed the word, "Which he doesn't have appeared to have obeyed."

Johnny rolled his eyes, "Thanks a lot, Dix." His voice held his sarcasm.

She smiled sweetly and patted his shoulder, "Sure handsome, any time."

"What'did our intrepid paramedic do to himself now?" Came another voice.

Johnny dropped his head onto his chest with a loud sigh. "_I_" he stressed the word, "Didn't do _anything_. I just happened to witness an accident and helped out."

Dr. Early chuckled as he joined his friends. "Johnny, I've concluded my exam of your friend and he'll be on his way up to a room soon. It looks good, but a mild concussion like we thought. He's asleep now and probably will be all night. His blood alcohol levels were rather high."

"I was just about to get Johnny into a room and take a listen to his lungs. He says he ate some smoke at that fire this morning. Dix said Mike gave him a breathing treatment this morning but I think he might need another," Brackett told his comrade.

Early looked at Johnny, "Johnny, you didn't say anything earlier."

Johnny gave out an long exasperated sigh, "I'm fine! I don't need examined and I don't need a breathing treatment!"

Early turned to Kel, his mouth turning up into an all out grin. "You have to admit, Kel. That sigh he just gave out sounded like it came from his toes and I didn't hear a single squeak or wheeze with it."

Brackett crossed his arms again, "well, you could be right. But with Johnny here, I'd prefer to err on the side of caution."

"Aw come on! A guy has one little case of radiation poisoning and one twisted knee after a fall and you've got me branded as some sorta calamity john!" Johnny protested. "give me a break already. I'm fine! Really!"

"What do you think, Joe?" Brackett asked as he rubbed his hand on his chin.

"I think he gets spun up too quickly." Joe Early chuckled, as he clapped the paramedic on the shoulder. "Relax Johnny, we believe you."

Johnny rolled his eyes, "You guys are a barrel of laughs. Do yourselves a favor; don't quit your day jobs."

Through all this the three friends watched wide-eyed, marveling at how these two doctors joked and talked to their friend and how he talked to them. This confident person in front of them was a far cry from the shy boy they knew in high school. The three exchanged glances, their thoughts the same. Lisa softly sang a bit of a song under her breath, "Respected. A purpose, a duty, a reason to be. Now I must go on. I've found the point to it all. I know I belong somewhere. No longer a useless waste of space."

Luke nodded and Mitch said, with a touch of awe in his voice, "He has. He really has found the place where he belongs."

"That's it!" Sal looked joyful. The others looked bewilderedly at him. "Gage! I figured it out! Where I heard the name Gage! That's the name on the royalty checks I fill out."

Mitch looked at the others and nodded, this wasn't something new to them. "Yeah, so."

Sal grinned, happy to have made the connection. "I send them to the LA County Firefighters Orphans and Widows funds on behalf of JR Gage but under the name "anonymous donor." That was something new and as one they turned to face their friend who was drinking coffee while leaning on the nurse's desk and talking with her. The two doctors had gone off to continue their jobs.

Johnny looked up and saw them staring at him. "What? What did I do?"

"Nothing BJ, nothing at all. Just being you." Luke said as he draped a heavy arm over his friend's shoulder. Johnny grinned and introduced his friends to the nurse whom he called, "Dix" They talked awhile then Dixie told them. "They've moved your friend upstairs but I suggest you head home and try to see him tomorrow. He's pretty out of it."

Mitch frowned, "We won't be able to see him tomorrow. We have a concert."

He stopped, suddenly aware of what he'd said and the implications of what had happened. "I'm gonna kill him" Mitch growled, "As soon as he's well enough to get outta this place, I'm gonna kill him." The other two looked equally sorrowful.

Dixie shook her head in sympathy, "I'm sorry. But I'm sure something will work out." She saw a nurse wave to her from one of the treatment rooms and excused herself.

Johnny hung his head, feeling badly for his friends. "I'm really sorry about the concert tomorrow, guys."

Luke slapped him on the shoulder, "I know you are, BJ."

Johnny shook his head, "I wish I could do something to help. You know I would do just about anything, if I could,"

Sal, who had been chewing worriedly on his fingernail suddenly stopped and stared hard at Johnny. He walked up to the paramedic and placed a heavy arm around his shoulders. "BJ, BJ, BJ, can I talk to you for just a moment . . ." Mitch, who had been watching his manager, now grinned broadly as the two shared a wink. He walked forward, standing on Johnny's other side. Johnny was staring at Sal with a '_I'm not sure I like this_' look on his face. Luke and Lisa exchanged smiles as they two caught onto the thought.

Johnny eyed Mitch warily as the other man also slung an arm around his friend's shoulders. Johnny's brown eyes went from Sal on his left to Mitch on his right. Both were grinning evilly. Johnny's eyes narrowed, "Why do I suddenly feel like a rabbit in a pack of wolves?" He muttered. Luke gave out a barking laugh then howled softly for affect. Johnny glanced at him, "Very funny, ha, ha, ha."

Mitch tightened his hold, drawing Johnny's attention back to him, "BJ, ole buddy ole pal-o-mine. Now, before you say no I want you to just listen . . ."

Johnny sighed heavily and dropped his head down on his chest. "I think I'm in trouble." Everyone laughed as they drew Johnny away, out of the hospital and into the sunset.


	3. Chapter 3

Here you go! The last chapter! I hope it lives up to the expectations sent. Again, the Emergency characters are not mine, the members of PCH are. I have no rights to the song "wipeout" but Desert Roads and Alone are mine.

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The ever unpredictable Johnny

Chapter 3

Roy pulled into this driveway and turned off the engine with a heavy sigh. He was bone-tired. A smile came to his lips as he thought of the friend he'd just left. "You're a little late." A voice startled him.

He nodded, removing the seatbelt and climbing out of the car. "I know." He pulled his willing wife into a hug. JoAnne squeezed her husband close then pulled away, her nose wrinkling up at the odors coming from in front of her. "You haven't showered yet."

He shook his head. She could see he was tired but there was something else in his eyes. She took his hand and led him toward the house. "I saw the fire on the news." She commented. "Was it a bad scene?"

He shook his head again and Jo rolled her eyes at his non-verbal communication. He chuckled at that. "No, I mean, it was a bad fire and there are several people in the hospital but none critical and no deaths."

She nodded, "Well, that's something to be thankful for." She pushed the front door open and continued to pull him into the living room. Once there, she stopped and pulled him into another hug. He looked around. "Where are the kids?"

"Sally took them all to the park, then they're going to the Matthews birthday party. They won't be back until about 3." She looked closely at him, "So, you're not late because you stopped to shower, I know the fire was long, but not deadly so . . ."

He knew what she was quietly asking. "I followed Johnny home."

At that bit of news and her curious look, he laughed. "No, he's alright. At least when I left he was safe in his bed, sound asleep."

He pulled her closer to him, and they stood there for a long moment before she broke away. "You want some coffee first?"

He nodded and followed her into the kitchen. He sat as she placed a filled cup before him, followed by a plate with sausages wrapped in pancakes, one of his favorites and a meal easily kept warm or reheated. She _had_ been following the fire.

She refilled her own cup and sat down next to him. She knew he'd need to 'decompress' before he'd shower and sleep. She could wait on him.

Roy ate one of the sausages and drank from his cup, that far away look still in his eyes. "It was exhausting, Jo. We got the call about 3 am and we were the second alarm. Cap immediately split Johnny and me up."

Jo frowned, "That's unusual isn't it?"

Roy nodded, "Yeah, I guess. I didn't think so at the time, I just went where I was told. Chief sent me over to help with triage and Johnny was assigned with the ones getting people out. Every time I looked up he was either on the ladder going back in or bringing another patient for us to check."

Jo sipped her drink as she remembered the scenes that had been covered on the news. "He must have been tired . . ."

"Beyond that." Roy agreed. "I almost couldn't wake him once we finally brought the squad back to the station. Then I was afraid he'd never make it home."

"That's why you followed him." Jo added.

Roy nodded, "Yeah, he told me that he could drive, he was alright. But I knew he wasn't."

Jo laid a gentle hand over her husband's hand, smiling at the caring he'd shown for their mutual friend. She'd been beginning to see that the two men's relationship was becoming more than just 'partners at work' and she liked the changes the vivacious younger man seemed to have on her sometimes too stoic husband. "So you followed him. More of your predictability sense?"

Roy chuckled and ate another sausage. "No. My predictability sense was telling me what I already knew about Johnny."

"And that is??"

"That if something is gonna happen to someone, it'll probably be him and that if I stick close, it probably won't happen at all." He grinned as he said, "Self-preservation. Keeping an eye on him is keeping me from going crazy."

She nodded, drank more of her coffee and smiled. '_Yeap, he's definitely beginning to care about that young man. He's just basically admitted he was worried_. _And no one can worry over someone he cares about better than Roy.'_ Aloud she asked, "So I take it nothing happened?"

Roy nodded as he drank more coffee. "He made it home safe enough, then slumped over his steering wheel right there in the parking lot. I had a dickens of a time getting him out of the car and up to his apartment."

He thought back over the morning. How he'd first knocked on his partner's window but had gotten no response. Worried that maybe his partner'd been injured more seriously earlier at the fire that just a knock in the shoulder and a burned arm, he'd opened the door, reaching instinctively for the other man's wrist. Johnny hadn't moved but his pulse was strong and steady as were his respirations. He'd grinned and shook his friend's shoulder. "Come on Johnny, let's get you to your bed." Johnny had groaned but made no other effort to move.

Roy shook him a little harder and spoke firmly, "Get up, Gage." This got an answer in the form of two unfocused eyes blinking at him. Then Johnny slowly pulled himself from the car, mumbling, "I'm fine, Roy. Go home."

Roy snickered, "Yeah, sure you are, partner." He grabbed the man by the elbow as he pushed the car door shut, then he began leading the asleep paramedic toward the complex. As he did, he suddenly realized he didn't know where Johnny lived as this was the first time he'd been to Johnny's place. But as Roy faltered, it appeared Johnny knew the way even asleep. Johnny shuffled his way toward the steps and reached out a hand toward the railing. He missed the first few times, then opened his eyes a little wider to see and caught hold, using that to help pull his tired body upward. Roy maintained his hold on the other arm, but let Johnny lead the way. As they reached the second floor landing, Johnny turned to the left.

A door opened and part of a grey head of hair and one bespeckled eye could be seen peering out at them past the secured chain. " 'Morning Mrs. Finklestein, It's just me getting home." Johnny muttered as he stared at the keys in his hand.

"Hmmpphh, getting home all hours of the day and night. You should get a real job! One with normal hours!"

"Yes, Mrs. Finklestein, you're right. Good night Mrs. Finklestein." Johnny muttered. Roy was amazed that Johnny hadn't even looked once toward the eye peering at them. He still stared at his keys as if not sure what to do with them.

Mrs. Finklestein had now turned her attention from Johnny to the one who had ahold of him. The door closed a little more and the quivery voice squeaked, 'Who? Who are you?"

Roy tried to smile soothingly, "I'm John's partner. I'm just making sure he gets home safely."

The eye narrowed as it took in the wavering figure before the door. "Why? Is he drunk?! Is that why he's home now! It's not even noon yet! I knew it! No good comes from his kind. Before you know it he'll be fired then just lay around and drink and then have wild parties and . . ."

Roy's eyes widened and he rapidly shook his head, "No! No, you've got it all wrong. We were at a fire and Johnny got a little hurt and I just wanted to make sure he got home ok!" Roy tried to put a little of a pity spin on his tale, hoping he wasn't getting Johnny in trouble with what was obviously a busybody.

"Some excuse! At a fire! You'd think that firemen would have enough of seeing fires at work but to go watch one!? Serves him right to get hurt! He should have been home not out wandering around. . . ."

Desperate now, Roy grabbed the keys out of Johnny's hand and searched them over. The first key he tried didn't work but the second did. He pushed open the door and pulled his partner in behind him, nearly knocking Johnny off his feet in his haste to leave the hall. He quickly pushed the door shut and on instinct locked it. "I'm really sorry about that, Johnny." He apologized. "I hope she doesn't give you . . ."

His words trailed off as he turned his attention from the door to his partner. Johnny was slowly sliding down the wall Roy had shoved him into when he'd pulled him through the doorway. The younger man's head was hanging down and his eyes were closed. Roy grabbed under his arm, stopping his descent. He wrapped one arm around Johnny's shoulders, bracing the slighter man's body where it leaned against his, and took Johnny's other arm and slung it over his own shoulders. He held it there with his other hand by firmly gripping Johnny's wrist.

"Come on partner, let's get you into bed." He smiled at the younger man. Johnny's eyes never opened again and his head remained down as Roy mostly dragged him down the hall. After opening each door, Roy found Johnny's bedroom. It wasn't as if there were many doors to search; a closet, a bathroom and the bedroom. Roy pushed Johnny into a bathroom so tiny, he wasn't sure they both could be in there at the same time. He stood in the doorway after placing Johnny in front of the sink, pinning him against the cabinet with his own hips. He ran the water until it was nice and warm, wet a washcloth and soaped it up. He placed it in Johnny's hand and commanded, "Wash your face and neck at least. You'll feel better."

Johnny didn't move, his head stayed on his chest, eyes closed. Roy sighed and rolled his eyes, "Just like my kids." He grumbled as he washed the soot from his friend's face and neck then rinsed him off. He'd thought that the feeling of water on his face would awaken Johnny at least a bit but the most Roy got was one eye barely cracking open.

Roy sighed as he took a hold of both of Johnny's arms at the elbows and moved him the few feet into the bedroom. He stopped for a moment as he looked around. The first thing he noticed was how neatly everything was arranged, even down to the bed made up with a star pattern quilt on it. A beautiful picture of a mountain pool hung above the headboard and other tastefully framed scenes of landscapes decorated the walls. Several statues of carved animals graced a wood shelf set on the wall. And a large hoop wrapped with some sort of string with an intricate weaving in the middle and feathers hanging from the side twisted gently in the window over the bed. He wondered what it was and made a mental note to ask Johnny about it later. The only thing out of place made him smile as he glanced at the clock alarm on the floor.

He gently pushed the dark haired man down onto the bed. Johnny offered no resistance and Roy was instantly reminded of the many times he'd put his sleepy son to bed after a long day. He bent over and removed Johnny's shoes and socks. When he straightened back up, he found Johnny had laid down, his left arm now over his face. "No John, not yet. We have to at least get your dirty uniform off."

" 'm tired. Wanna sleep." Johnny muttered as Roy pulled him back into an upright position. Roy hid another smirk. He pulled both shirts off over the younger man's head as one, figuring it would be easier that way. Johnny made a muffled protest as his t-shirt hung up briefly on his ears, then gave a deep sigh once it was off. Roy then undid his partner's belt and pants, saying, "I'm kinda glad you aren't really there, junior, or this could be kinda embarrassing."

"Yes, Dad." Johnny mumbled. Roy stopped for a moment as the word caused a funny feeling in his gut. His mind instantly went in several directions at once as he looked up into Johnny's face. '_Is he . . .? No, his eyes are still closed. I don't think he's really there. He __must__ be exhausted if he thinks . . . He never talks about his parents . _.." Even as Roy thought it, he thought that was strange. As he let his mind dwell on that, he realized that for all his boasting about knowing Johnny's patterns, he actually knew very little about him personally. He finished undressing the unresisting man, swung his long legs up on the bed and then covered the younger man with the blanket. Johnny snuggled down into the sheets with a contented sigh and that left arm again rose up to cover his face.

Roy stood there for a moment, watching him sleep and feeling odd sensations of . . . of protectiveness? flow over him. Without realizing it, he folded Johnny's dirty and smoky uniform and placed it on the chair by the window, picked up the alarm and placed it back on the nightstand, then with one last glance at the deeply sleeping figure, turned and left the room. As Roy passed through the rest of the tiny apartment, he noticed more framed scenes on the walls and more items of definite American Indian origin. For a moment this puzzled him then he had an eye rolling moment as he realized, by physical evidence, his partner might very well be Indian. He didn't know; he'd never asked and his partner had never told.

"I might think I have your habits figured out but maybe I really don't know _you_." He mused, then after making sure Johnny's keys were on the coffee table and the door was locked, he left.

A tap on his arm startled Roy back to the present and he looked up into his wife's smiling face. "I think someone else needs to go to bed as well." She chuckled. Roy nodded with a tired sigh. He finished the last piece of his breakfast, drained the glass of juice his wife had poured for him and stood. He hugged her again and kissed the top of her head. He opened his mouth then stopped as Jo deepened her voice and said, "I love you, honey. I'm gonna take a shower now and try to get some sleep Wake me in about four hours ok?"

Her green eyes twinkled at him as he made a face. She squeezed him about the middle, "Now. Be truthful. Isn't that almost exactly what you were about to say?"

He shook his head and she raised one eyebrow in disbelief, "Rooooooyyy?"

He grinned and squeezed her back, "Nope. I was gonna say, I'm beat. Let me shower and then join me for a snuggle."

JoAnne giggled, "ooooo! Spontaneity, I like that! Tell me, fireman, do you think you have the strength?"

"Just try me," He growled and she squealed as he attacked her neck.

When Roy next opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was he was alone, the next was the shrill voice of his daughter calling for her mother and Jo's lower voice in answer. A glance at the clock revealed the time was about 4:30 and his stomach rumbled. He pulled himself from the bed, pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt and went off to find his family. His wife's smiling face greeted him first when he entered the kitchen.

"Hi! I figured you might be hungry since you missed lunch so I made you a sandwich to tide you over until dinner." She pulled a plate from the fridge, pulled the plastic wrap off it, and placed it on the table. "Milk or tea?"

"Tea," he answered and a tall glass of tea appeared next to his plate. He ate the sandwich and drank the tea, his eyes idly following his wife's movements as she moved around the kitchen, preparing the evening meal of a chicken casserole before placing it in the oven to cook. He could hear the voices of his children coming from outside as they played with some of the neighborhood children.

Once Jo finished, she poured herself a glass of ice tea and joined her husband at the table. Roy noticed she had a pad of paper before her and couldn't contain a groan of recognition. '_Great. She's got the ever present honey-do list already made up. I can hear it now, __Now Roy, don't give me that. It's just a few things that really need to be done. If you get started now, you'll be done before supper. Honest, it won't take that long.' _He mentally verbalized.

Jo looked at him and laid down her pencil, "Now Roy don't give me that. I just have a few things on this list and I'm sorry but they really need to be done." Suddenly her eyes narrowed and she moved slightly closer. Her voice sharp, she demanded, "Roy William! Are you predicting me again!?"

He pulled back, shaking his head, but the guilty flush to his cheeks gave him away. He tried a grin and took the list from her unresisting hand, saying, "I'll just get started on these right away." He glanced briefly at the paper and shrugged, "It's not that long, I'll be done before supper." He leaned over and kissed his wife quickly on the cheek and hastily moved toward the door, noting her still narrowed eyes watching him.

As he reached out and slid open the sliding glass door to the backyard, her cold voice stopped him, "One moment, mister." He froze. Slowly he turned to face his wife, the apologetic expression on his face quickly changing to confusion as he realized his wife was now smiling and her eyes were twinkling brightly. She pointed a finger at him and winked, saying, "Gotcha!" Still laughing she left the kitchen, leaving her husband standing partially in the doorway with his eyes wide and his mouth open.

As she busied herself in the laundry room, she could hear the start of the lawn mower. "Try to find me predictable, humph." She grumbled then smiled. She was going to enjoy the surprise she had planned to pull on her little-to-smug husband.

The rest of the Saturday went by peaceably, and with the list finally completed, and supper over, Roy relaxed in his recliner as he listened to the sounds of his children completing their nighttime routines. His thoughts went back to the morning and the strange feelings that he'd had worrying over his partner. '_Wonder how long Johnny slept today_?', he mused. A glance at his watch told him it was now after 8:30. Almost before he realized it, he'd stood and had the phone's receiver in one hand and was dialing what was fast becoming a very familiar number with the other. He let the phone ring twenty times, with no answer, before he hung it up.

'_Not home. I bet he decided to head out into the mountains.'_ He glanced out at the clear sky he could see from the back. _'Great weather. I bet he'll spend the rest of his days off camping.'_ In his mind he could picture his partner, tent pitched in one of the picturesque sights like he'd seen framed at Johnny's house. Briefly, he wondered if perhaps they were actual places Johnny had been in. '_Something else I don't know about him. I know he loves to camp and fish and hike whenever he can but I don't know where.' _As he thought this, he again about those spectacular scenes. '_They looked like photos. I wonder where he got them.'_ He sighed as his mind's eye pictured Johnny relaxing next to a fire, head back as he leaned against a large log, watching the stars appear in a clear sky.

"Tired?" His wife's voice startled him and he turned to smile at her. "A little." He opened his arms and she willingly embraced him. "Well, I am too. The kids are down, why don't we call it a night as well."

Roy kissed the top of her head, "You read my mind, Mrs. DeSoto." She chuckled and headed off toward the stairs leading to their bedroom as Roy secured the doors before following her up.

The next morning was the usual rush before church; getting the kids dressed, finding that missing shoe under the bed for Chris, making sure Jenny had tied her tithing securely into the corner of her hankie. Finally, the kids were all dressed and waiting for their parents in the living room while Roy straightened his tie once last time, and Jo checked her hair in the mirror before she shooed her family out into the car.

Church went as church usually did, members there welcoming Roy since he often wasn't able to accompany his family because of his work schedule. Others asked him about the apartment fire still in the news since the cause was under investigation. Once the service and subsequent meet-n-greet afterwards was completed, Roy herded his family back into the car for the trip home. Once there, the kids eagerly shed their 'good' clothes for playwear and raced outside. With no less equal joy, Roy shed his suit and changed into a casual pair of slacks and shirt. Jo had headed immediately into the kitchen to check on the meal simmering in the crock-pot. As Roy headed toward the living room and the Sunday paper, she passed him headed for the bedroom to remove her dress. "Supper will be ready in about 10 minutes." She told him as she toed off her heels with a sigh of relief. "Roy, could you get the kids in, get them cleaned and have them help set the table?"

He kissed her cheek as he answered, "Right away, Ma'am." She swatted at him as he ducked out the door, chuckling.

After the prayers were said and plates were filled, the family set about enjoying their Sunday meal. In her usual enthusiastic way, Jenny was perched on the edge of her chair, both legs swinging wildly under the table. "Momma! When is Mrs. Ritter coming?"

"Not until 1:30." Her mother answered, dishing more green beans onto her scowling son's plate. "You will eat these, Christopher, and if you ever drop food down to the cat again, you'll finish the meal with your chair pushed into a corner."

"That's forever away!" Jenny complained.

"No it's not. It's only a hour away. Now sit right in that chair, young lady, and finish your supper." Grumbling under her breath, Jenny straightened in her seat and applied herself to her meal.

"What's happening at 1:30?" Roy asked as he took another helping of pot

roast.

"Vivian is taking the kids for the rest of the day. She'll be bringing them back late tonight." Jo answered as she buttered her bread and then bit off a piece. Roy frowned as he digested this information while finishing his dinner. This wasn't typical. Normally when he had a Sunday off, they spent the day as a family; playing in the park or taking a drive somewhere or watching TV or playing a game.

From the corner of her eye, Jo watched her husband puzzle over this announcement and gave a secret smile. _'Gotcha again, Mr. DeSoto. You who think he has me so well pegged. . .'_

Soon the kids were asking to be excused and she let them, allowing her to enjoy the rest of her meal while Roy sipped his coffee. She let him stew a little longer before she causally mentioned, "Oh Roy, remember when I told you about that concert with the PCH Cruysers? The charity one?"

Roy nodded, wondering where this was leading. He knew his wife liked that band, even if he thought their music was a little too "hard rock" for him. He'd even looked into tickets for her, thinking that maybe they could invite Johnny along, that way Jo could have someone to gush about the band too. He knew Johnny liked the group, he'd seen several of their cassette tapes in his partner's Rover. However, the tickets still available had been way out of his price range so he'd done nothing.

Jo watched him as he nodded then gave a peculiar frown. "Well," she said as she poured herself a cup of coffee, "You know I listen to KLIV?' She waited for his nod again before she continued. "Well, they had a trivia contest about the band and I called in." Now she looked directly at him, her eyes sparkling with her growing excitement. "I won, Roy! Can you believe it! I won the contest!"

He smiled at her, "That's great honey!"

"Yes! Yes, it is! So I figure that we should leave right after Viv picks up the kids. There's bound to be a crowd, the concert's has been sold out forever. I even picked up a few things for us to take with us."

Roy blinked in surprise at her gushing. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on, you lost me. Go where?"

Now it was Jo's turned to blink at Roy. "To the concert of course. Didn't you hear me? I said I won."

Roy's brows dropped, "I heard that part. I just don't understand the 'going' part."

Jo rolled her eyes at the obliviousness of her husband. "I won tickets to the concert, Roy. That's where we are going."

Traffic began to back up off the access road as soon as Roy turned the car off the highway. He sighed as he thought of the long line before them. "Better hope they don't have any emergencies," he mumbled, "an engine or squad would never get through this mess in good time."

In her seat beside him, JoAnne rolled her eyes. She knew her husband was less than thrilled at this outing, although he'd never tell her that. Truthfully, she didn't care. She was just so glad to be on her way to an actual live concert of one of her favorite bands. She pulled the tickets back out of her purse and looked them over again. She recalled how she'd had butterflies in her stomach after she'd received the phone call telling her she'd won right after her husband had headed to bed the day before. While he was still asleep, she'd gone off to pick up the tickets and stopped at the grocery on the way back to pick up a few items. Now here she was, in the car, just mere miles away from the arena and mere hours away from the concert time.

With one eye on the traffic and one eye on his wife, Roy sighed. He knew how excited she was and wished he could feel better about it with her. Again he couldn't help but think that Johnny would've been the better choice to go with her. But he also knew that there was no way his wife would've gone for that. He gave another sigh as he resigned himself to an evening of loud music and a headache afterwards. Then he stopped as another thought came to him. '_hmmm, Jo really loves this group. I haven't seen her this keyed up about something since I took her to the homecoming game our last year in high school._' He grinned as he realized there could be some fringe benefits for him to have his wife so happy. With that possible prospect, he allowed a smile to come onto his face as he finally pulled the car into the already crowded parking lot.

Johnny looked out over the crowd amassing in front of him and swallowed—hard—with a suddenly dry mouth. A bottle of water appeared in front of him and with a grin over his shoulder, he took it and drank deeply. He turned from the milling human throng to his friend. Luke grinned back, "You're looking a little nervous there, amigo."

"BJ? Nervous?" Scoffed Mitch as he joined them. "The man runs into burning buildings for a living, Luke. Why would he be nervous?"

"There aren't a couple thousand people watching me when I do that." Johnny murmured, his gaze straying back to where he could see the crowds streaming into the arena even though he and the rest of the bands remained hidden from them.

Luke chuckled heartily and cuffed his friend on the back, moving the paramedic a good two feet. Mitch punched Luke in the arm, "Hey! Don't damage my drummer!"

Said drummer gave both a weak smile. Mitch laid a hand on Johnny's shoulder, his face suddenly serious. "Really man, we do really appreciate this."

Johnny gave a faint rendition of his lop-sided grin. "No problemo. Just like old times, huh?"

"Old times!" snorted a melodic voice. Lisa stepped up to the group, still dressed in her dressing gown. It was obvious she'd just come from having her make-up and hair done. The three men looked at her appreciatively. Mitch pulled her into a hug and kissed her head. Lisa returned the kiss to his chin, turned turn back to the others. "This is soooo much better than those old times. Open air, no heavy smoke trying to choke you as you try to sing, no grabby stinky men trying to cop a feel. Better pay. Hundreds of people screaming your name, hanging on your every words—watching your every move, listening to each and every note played, hoping that the performance they'll see will be worth the time and money they spent," She tilted her head and gave a coy smile, "Shall I continue?"

"Nope." Johnny replied, shaking his head. "You convinced me. I'm goin' home." He took two steps toward the exit before Mitch reacted.

Luke and Lisa laughed as Mitch grabbed the retreating man's elbow. "You aren't going anywhere but out on that stage in . . ." He glanced at his watch, "in three hours." He growled. Covertly he studied the man he had a hold of and noticed that the bantering had worked, the tautness in his friend's body had dissipated. He still absently twirled the sticks he held back and forth between his fingers but his shoulders were no longer hunched. He moved his arm upward and gave Johnny a gentle push. "Let's go back to the bus, have a drink of something wet and cool and relax."

"Ok," Johnny conceded. "I'll have a tequila bottle straight with salt and lime." Laughter echoed backstage as the group made their way through the mixture of musical equipment, wires, cables and people.

Roy sighed as he looked ahead of them. "Great," he muttered, "I love long lines about as much as Johnny and we know his opinion on them." The thought of his partner brought a small smile to his lips. He pictured himself where he figured his friend was, camping in some off-road place that he'd hiked to, a tent already set up with a warm comfy sleeping bag inside, a fire crackling away, the smells of roasting fresh fish caught in a nearby stream and coffee percolating in its pot mixing with smells of pine trees and wood smoke. He sighed with longing, '_Wish I was with you, partner._'

Jo reached over and grabbed his arm tightly giving a little jump of excitement. "I can't believe we are really here! Just think! In less then three hours PCH will be playing! Live! And I'll be there!" She gave two more little hops, her smile nearly splitting her face as she looked happily at him.

He couldn't help but grin at her excitement, it was catching. But as she always did, she saw right into him. "I know you're not really happy about this Roy." She hugged his arm tightly to her and laid her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for doing this for me." He chuckled and kissed her head. "I love you Mrs. DeSoto.'

"I love you too, Mr. DeSoto." She answered and handed him a small container. Thinking it was mints or some other kind of candies he opened it and shook the contents into his hand. To his surprise two plastic earplugs fell into his palm. He looked up into his wife's twinkling eyes and she laughed at his expression. "I thought they might help you to 'cope'" She made quotes in the air. He shook his head as he chuckled, placing the items back into the container and putting the container in his chest pocket.

The line had been moving slowly but steadily while this discussion had played out and now they found themselves at the entrance. Jo handed the taker her tickets. He read them over and smiled as he tore them and handed her back the ends. "Congratulations. Your seats are to your right and down. Enjoy the concert."

"Oh I will!" JoAnne bubbled as she placed the ends safely into her purse then hand in hand the two headed in the direction indicated. After several moments they found their seats and Jo clapped her hands like a little girl as she realized they were close enough to the stage to be able to see the band's faces easily but far enough away to not get neck strain by trying to look up and around to take in the whole stage.

"Oh Roy! These are great seats! Oh, this is perfect! I'll be able to get pictures!!" She pulled her small 110 camera out and made sure it was all ready to go. Roy merely nodded and tried to get comfortable, knowing they still had a long wait. The first band wasn't due on stage for another 45 minutes. He saw a man walking past carrying drinks from the concession stand and got an idea to kill time. "Hey Jo? I'm kinda thirsty. Wouldn't you like a drink?"

"Oh." Jo stopped her staring at the stage area and began to rummage around in the large carry bag she'd insisted they bring. She pulled out two bottles of coke, handed one to him and then pulled out a packet of chips as well. She handed one bottle and the chips to Roy and returned to her scrutiny of the stage area, hoping for that first peek at a performer.

Roy looked at the bottle in his hand and sighed. He should've known his wife would come prepared. He shrugged, opened bottle the bottle and chips and settled back in his seat to people-watch.

"Oh Roy Look! Look! I thought I saw Lucas Mendoza! Yes! It was him! He's standing over there with another man!" She pointed somewhere down by the stage off to the side. Roy tried to look interested but didn't really see what she obviously did. Jo stopped, a puzzled frown on her face, "I . . . I don't recognize him. He's holding sticks. A drummer? But it's not Vic Kimmel . . ." Jo was muttering.

Roy shrugged, "Maybe it's one of the other band's drummers." He tried to sound helpful. Jo's green eyes never left the two she stared at as she slowly shook her head. "Noooo," she drug the word out slowly. "No, there's something familiar about him though, the way he's standing. . ."

Roy sighed deeply and shrugged his shoulders as he turned his attention back to his drink and snack. "Oh, they've left now." She sat, her face still looking puzzled. "I swear I know him, but it wasn't anyone from the PCH . . ."

Roy patted her shoulder. "Well if he is a drummer for tonight, you'll get a better look at him later on." He comforted her. She shrugged, "I guess." She opened her own bottle and grabbed a few chips, munching on them as she went back to searching the stage area.

Johnny had changed clothes into something more 'band appropriate ware'. He had exchanged his dark blue button up cotton shirt for a quiana fabric one of the same style with an oriental pattern. The shirt clung to his body like real silk, outlining him from his muscular shoulders to his trim waist. He buttoned it up, stuffed it into his chocolate brown tight jeans, and refastened the beaded belt his aunt had made for him. That done, he carefully rolled up the sleeves to free his forearms. He grabbed a spare cloth and gave his freshly polished boots a few swipes. To complete his onsombo, he took out the clean bandana he usually kept in his hip pocket while working at Mrs. M's and carefully began rolling it.

A long whistle from the door caught his attention and wide-eyed he looked up.

"Hubba-hubba! My, you clean up pretty!" Lisa teased and watched the red flood upward from Johnny's exposed long neck, over his chin across his cheeks and up his ears. He bent his head back to the task at hand and when he had the cloth rolled into a tube, he fastened it around his forehead, tying it securely in back.

Lisa stepped up to him and with soft fingers rearranged his hair around the band then stepped back, looking at him with a critical eye. "Yeap. Now you look like a rocker." She was pleased to see that familiar lop-sided grin appear on his face. "So what's that supposed to mean? Just what does a rocker look like?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. I've never been able to figure that out myself."

He chuckled, then drank more water from the bottle she handed him, saying, "I know I don't have to harp on you the importance of staying hydrated like I hafta the rest of this ratpack."

He nodded, "Yeah, if there's one group of people who are very familiar with dehydration it's probably firemen."

"How's your voice?," she asked next, a slight frown on her face as she recalled the scene in the hospital the previous day.

He grinned again, "It's fine today. Like I said before, it was just a minor case of smoke inhalation. Nothing to worry about."

"Good to hear that, BJ." Mitch's voice announced his presence. He, too, looked his friend over critically then nodded. "Lookin' good there, BJ."

"I'll say." Vic agreed. "My clothes look better on him than on me." The others chuckled as Johnny's face tinted red once more.

Just then the band currently on stage ended their performance to the very loud cheers of the crowd. Johnny looked toward them, his face paling slightly as he swallowed hard.

Mitch stepped closer to his friend, his smile gentle as he reassured. "You'll do just fine, John. Relax, enjoy yourself."

Johnny looked at him and Mitch could see the anxiety in his brown eyes. "What if I mess up?" He murmured. "I know how important keeping the beat is in a song. This isn't just practice and it isn't like playing along with your recordings in Mrs. M's garage. This is the real thing in front of hundreds… thousands of people who have paid a lot to see _your_ band, not some…some…"

"That's enough." Lisa's voice was harsh and Johnny blinked at her in surprise.

"BJ, you are part of our band. Didn't you hear Mitch before? You will always be part of the PCH Cruysers whether you're playing with us in concert or not. And as far as keeping the beat . . ." Her smile grew bigger as she giggled, "It's not like you're Stanley Wilson."

Johnny blinked at her then suddenly burst out into laughter, as did Luke and Mitch. "Man! I haven't thought about him in years!"

Vic looked confused. "Who is Stanley Wilson?"

"Oh let me tell it!" Mitch looked at the others and received nods from his wife and fellow band member and a hand flourish from Johnny. He turned to Vic, barely controlling his laughter as he related the tale. "Back when we were in high school, BJ, Luke and I all played in the marching band and the concert band. BJ also was a track star, a darn good one too. Some of his records still hold." He glanced at his friend who was once more changing colors. He continued, "Well, BJ had had a track meet the morning before our first fall concert. Unfortunately, he's taken a bad spill on the track."

"Bad spill, hell," Luke growled as he looked at BJ, "We all saw Straughten elbow you." Johnny only shrugged. He knew what had happened better then anyone but since none of the coaches had said anything, he knew there wasn't anything he could do. Under his breath, Luke told Vic, "That's ok. Straughten had a bit of an 'accident' himself later in the locker room." Vic glanced at Johnny, who hadn't heard the exchange, then back at Luke who gave a faint shake of his head. In a way, Vic felt kind of glad to hear this, even if he had nothing to do with what had happened obviously years ago.

"Anyway," Johnny took up the tale, "I ended up with some cuts and bruises and a sprained wrist so I couldn't drum."

"Cuts and bruises!" Now Mitch cut in again, "BJ, they were digging half the track out of your arms and legs!" Again Johnny just shrugged and looked nervously at the sticks in his hands. With a heavy sigh, Mitch went back to his tale, "So anyway. BJ here shows up to the concert sos he'll still get credit because Mr. Falkner was real uh… insistent on that. But his hands were so messed up he could barely hold a stick. So Mr. Falkner calls up Stanley Wilson to be the drummer." Laughter now took over and Mitch shook his head, helpless over his amusement.

"What's so funny is that while Stanley could play the drums, as far as doing drum rolls, complicated beats and all that, he had no sense of rhythm." Johnny added, his own eyes sparkling with mirth.

Vic looked at the four in open-mouthed surprise, "You're kidding right? A drummer with no rhythm?"

All four nodded, and Luke finished the tale, "You shoulda seen it! We went onto the stage and BJ here is standing next to Stanley with one stick and a wood block. He beat on it to help Stanley keep the proper beat on each piece."

Johnny giggled, "Yeah, I was his own personal metronome." He swayed from side to side while clicking his tongue and the other three band members dissolved into laughter.

Vic shook his head in disbelief. Just then one of the stagehands called out, "Ten minutes guys." Instantly Johnny sobered and his face lost a little color. Mitch stepped up to him.

"Do the songs just like we did in rehearsal and there'll be no problems." He smiled as he laid his arm over his friend's shoulder. He wasn't worried. The rehearsals had sounded as if they'd never been apart. Even the newer songs, Johnny kept right up with. When Sal had expressed his surprise, Johnny, with blushing, had confessed he would play along with the albums, adding his own unique touches to the drums of Vic.

Vic, who had been released in the morning, had come out of the bus to listen to them play the last few songs and had wandered back, shaking his head and muttering, "Man, I sure am glad he loves those sirens so much. My job would really be in trouble." The earlier animosity he had felt for this man, that the others talked about so happily, had left. Johnny had been the one to pick him up from the hospital, checking him over and listening carefully to the doctor's directions. Vic'd been a bit surprised when the dark haired doctor had teased the young paramedic in the way friends do with "And you, hose jockey, I've seen enough of you around here. Make sure I don't see you again until your next shift and you're in your blues and still vertical!"

"Johnny's been a patient here a time or two." The nurse wheeling Vic's wheelchair had leaned close and explained with a giggle. "He seems to have an inclination for getting a little banged up."

During the drive, Vic had asked Johnny about his job and once the younger man began talking, his face lit up and the words gushed forth. There was no denying he loved what he did. And Vic found himself genuinely liking this friendly fellow. Now he added his pep talk to the obviously nervous younger man. "You'll do great, BJ. I've seen you and heard you. Just let the drums talk to you and you talk to them and everything will be groovy." Johnny smiled his thanks to the other drummer and grasped his wrist, Vic returned the grasp, grabbing onto Johnny's wrist as well. The stage hand reappeared. "Five minutes."

"It's show time, boys and girls." Mitch intoned and Lisa stepped up and kissed him on the cheek. She did the same to Luke and Johnny who grinned at her, "Still do that, huh?"

She smiled, "Before every show. For luck."

The small break between the bands seemed like forever for JoAnne whose eyes never left the now darkened stage. Suddenly she gasped and grabbed onto Roy's arm, squeezing it hard. "I see movement! Oh! They're coming onto the stage! Oh Roy!"

Roy winced and slowly peeled his wife's fingers from his bruised flesh. "Yes, I see." He tried to say it with enthusiasm but there wasn't any need; Jo never heard him.

A loud hiss came over the loud speakers then a voice announced, "And now ladies and gentlemen, we're proud to present, the band you've all been waiting for . . . LA's own, The PCH Cruysers!"

The crowd reacted wildly as the lights went up and the heavy thud of the base drum began its steady rhythm, followed a few measures later by the bass guitar, then the lead guitar began as the band broke out into song. Jo sat transfixed; her eyes wide and focused only on the stage. Roy looked around, seeing similar looks on most of the people around him. With a sigh, he glanced at his watch, thinking, '_Well, this is the last band. Soon it'll all be over.'_

When the song was over, the lead singer grabbed the mic and shouted to the crowd. "Hello LA!"

The crowd reacted again and the lead singer grinned, "We're happy to be back here where it all began. And we're so glad you all could come out tonight and join us. Now, enough talk, let's rock and roll!"

He turned and gave a nod to the drummer who began a fast tattoo on the edge of the snare. tataraparap tataraparap. Soon he added the bass drum as well. tataraparap (thud) tataraparap (thud) Then all the males began to sing. They finished the first stanza, then the drum broke out into a series of beats across the tom-toms and the guitars started. Roy watched the stage. Through the earplugs, he could still hear that music and he had to admit, it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. The lyrics made sense and there was a nice beat to the music. The band actually played on their instruments. A little surprised, Roy found himself beginning to enjoy it.

He watched the lead singer for several moments, then turned his attention to the bass guitar player. _'Man! That guy's huge! He's almost as big as that guy that nearly broke Johnny's arm a couple of days ago.' _He shook his head in remembrance of the bruise he'd seen on his partner's arm.

Next he looked at the female playing the keyboard. She was pretty with long blonde hair swinging loose around her shoulders. Then the paramedic in him noticed something and frowning, he looked closer. Yeap, he hadn't imagined it. She was definitely pregnant and in her last trimester by the looks of her. He grinned, wondering briefly how that would affect the rest of the band. Just then Jo leaned over and said, "Lisa looks about ready to drop, don't you think? I bet Mitch is excited. This will be their first."

"Mitch?" Roy questioned. Jo nodded, "Yes, the lead singer and the keyboardist are married. They've been sweethearts since high school." She smiled into her husband's eyes. "Almost as long as you and I." He smiled back and then Jo returned her attention to the stage, singing happily along with the band.

Roy sighed, '_Why do people do that?_' he wondered, '_Why pay all that money to listen to the band and then drown it out with your own singing?_ That song ended and the band immediately swung into another. Roy returned to his inspection of the band. The last member was the drummer. He watched as the man moved quickly around his set-up.

The light there was a bit dimmer and he squinted his eyes for a better view. There was something . . . something. . .

Roy frowned. '_I've never seen this band before_.' he mused, '_I've only seen the covers of their albums when Jo's pulled them out, so why does something about that drummer seem . . . familiar?'_ Intrigued now, he focused all his attention on the seated figure, carefully watching every move he made.

He could see a slim man with lean tanned limbs. Dark hair which had fallen forward, covered the band of cloth wrapped around his forehead and provided only occasional glimpses of his eyes. He wore dark brown jeans and a buttoned up silky long sleeve shirt. The sleeves were rolled up over his biceps, just like . . . Whataminute . . . Naw, it couldn't be . . . Roy found himself focusing hard on those moving arms. Yes, one had a gauze bandage wrapping it from wrist to elbow. Surely it was just coincidence? Then he realized what he was trying to reason. '_With him, there is no coincidence. It has to be him!'_ "Johnny!" Jo turned to him, her face expressing her question. "You say something, Roy?"

Roy nodded, his eyes still glued on the drummer, trying for that one glance that would confirm his suspicions. Beside him, JoAnne sighed, "Look Roy, I know this isn't your usual kinda thing," She began, thinking her husband's problem was with his dislike of what he called, "Loud noise—not music" But he made a cutting motion with his hand, his eyes still staring straight ahead, "Johnny!" he said it out loud again. Jo looked around then back toward her husband. "What? Where?"

Roy broke out into a grin as he glanced at her, excitement on his face. "Jo. The drummer. I think it's Johnny!" Now Jo's eyes went wide as she stared at the figure in the shadows. "WHA?!" As she did, she noticed the man on the drums wasn't the usual drummer for the band, but the man she'd seen earlier talking with Lucas Mendoza. Could it be her husband's partner?

Just then the song ended and everyone gave voice to their appreciation of the concert. Once the noise died off, the lead guitarist came up to the mic. "I want to thank you all for coming and for giving generously to the Radnor Fund. Now we have time for a few more songs and we decided to make these special. Those of you who know us, probably noticed that tonight our regular drummer, Vic Kimmel, isn't here."

Murmurs went through the crowd as people acknowledge the truth in what he said. "He's alright folks, just a smack to the head, not anything important damaged." There was laughter as expected then he continued, "He'll be back with us soon. For those of you who have been following us since our mphmm days" Muffled words were spoken into the mic and the audience laughed.

Someone shouted out, "High School! Rock on!" Mitch looked out and gave a faint nod, "Uh huh. I know you didn't go to _**our**_ high school then if _**that's**_ what you think." More laughter as the heckler's friends tease him. "Anyway for those long timers, you might have recognized our original drummer who stepped in tonight for Vic. We want to thank BJ for being here. He took a break from his real job saving people's lives with the LA County Fire Department to come save our butts in this concert. I think he's done a pretty good job tonight, don't you folks?" The crowd's voice brought a blush to the already flushed face of the drummer who nervously twirled his sticks.

Mitch grinned at the rest of the band. He loved doing shtick like this and often indulged in it during a concert. He knew that Johnny would remember it too and had a good sense of humor. Hoping his friend would 'play along' with his skit, Mitch continued.

"So tonight, since BJ is here, we thought we'd do some of our original songs." He turned and looked over toward the drums. "Hey, BJ, you wrote this one for that cute thing that . . . " Right on as if cued, noisy drum rolls and clashing symbols drowned Mitch out. He shook his head slowly at the drummer who shrugged innocently. "Still have those uncontrollable urges to beat on things, huh?"

The crowd laughed as the drummer ducked his head, still twirling his sticks. Mitch grinned as he faced the audience once more, "As I was saying, BJ was a little shy in high school and there was this girl in his History class that . . ." Again rapid patter from the drums drowned him out. Mitch faced his friend again. Each time he opened his mouth, the drums drowned him out. Finally he put up both hands in surrender, "OK fireboy, stand down, I give."

The drummer relaxed in his chair and Mitch grinned at him. "You aren't gonna let me tell the tale, are you?"

The drummer shook his head, grinning lopsidedly back. Roy felt a charge go through him. That grin! He knew that grin!

Mitch nodded his head, "Uh huh. Well, I'll just wait until you're not around to tell it then."

"OH NO YOU WON'T!" The rest of the band chorused and the drummer ducked his head, convulsing in laughter. Mitch sighed heavily, "Alright. You guys win. I'll just say this next song was written by BJ and became our first hit."

This time the keyboard started out the song with the melody played mournfully, then the drums joined as well as the guitars. The lead singer sang while the others provided harmony and backup. Jo smiled brightly, "Oh! Desert Roads! They haven't played this in concert for years!" Roy nodded abstractly as he continued his surveillance of the drummer but he couldn't help listening to the lyrics also_. 'Didn't the lead singer . . . what was his name? Oh yeah, Mitch, he said the drummer wrote this. He called the drummer BJ. Maybe it isn't Johnny. It sure looks like Johnny.'_ Roy stopped his self-monolog as he listened to the words.

I heard once long ago, life's like travelin' a road

And the scenery there's from the seeds we've sowed

You traveled with me, and you shared my load

Carelessly I pushed you away, and life's become a desert road

My life is like a desert road, all empty dry and so alone

Ohhh girl you were my substance, my food, my air and my drink

Without you life's flat, dreary, barren and so bleak

And now that you're gone my life's an empty desert road

I never realized I had it so goooood,

Never stopped to see, never understood

I'd change it all, take it back if I coooould

But it's too late now, my life's an empty desert road

I took you for granted, I'm ashamed to saaaayy,

Didn't know or care that I could lose you one day

I was wrong, I was foolish, let it all slip awaaaay

One day you walked out, and now my life's a desert road

ooouuuu, Baby! Baby come back!

Yeah, yeah a desert road!

I'm beggin' ya please! Please! Pleeeeeaaase!

Baby come back, my life's a desert road.

Crowd loved it, singing enthusiastically along with the band. The band finished to the rousing applause of the crowd. Mitch came back to the mic. "Are you having fun tonight!"

Crowd cheered. Mitch looked disgusted. "Oh, wonderful. My granny's bridge team can make more noise." Louder he asked, "I said, are you having fun tonight?" This time the crowd erupted with screams, whistles and foot stomping. Mitch smiled widely and looked toward the drummer. "Any more enthusiastic and we'll have to call your station to come hose them down."

The crowd laughed as the drummer nodded, "They'll come. They enjoy a party." His voice was muted since the mic was further in front of him then Mitch's but Roy's head came up at the sound of that oh so familiar voice.

Mitch looked back out to the crowd. "OK we had a blast from the past, now we'd like to do something new. This song we've just released and it seems to be doing well." He turned to the drummer again, "And gee, surprise, it's another one of yours, isn't it?"

The drummer shrugged and twirled his sticks. Mitch shook his head as he faced the crowd again. "There must be something in all that smoke at fires."

"Maybe that's not the only smoke!" Someone from the crowd yelled out. The drummer ducked his head and Roy could've swore he saw his face darken as everyone laughed. Mitch shook his head, "Naw, you don't know BJ then. The guy don't need drugs; he gets high just on life!" With that, he turned and began the next song. Jo crowed with excitement. "I love this song!" Oh, Roy, listen to the words; they're beautiful!"

Alone

Do I even have a place in this world?

Deserted

Worthless, unwanted no one cares at all

How can I go on?

Is there a point to all this?

Wish I could just disappear,

Just a useless waste in a useless space

Wanted

Could it be I finally belong?

Respected

A purpose, a duty, a reason to be

Now I must go on

I've found the point to it all

I know I belong somewhere

No longer a useless waste of space

As the last verse was sung, Luke looked over at Lisa, tilted his head toward Johnny then winked. Lisa smiled as she remembered their discussion the other night in the Emergency Room. As the last notes of the song died away, Luke found himself grinning at Johnny, who grinned back and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. _'Yeah'_ Luke thought happily, _"You have found where you belong and I'm happy for ya, BJ'_

Once the crowd again became quiet, Mitch continued. "So tonight as our final song," The crowd interrupted him with groans and beggings of "no! Please more!"

Mitch smiled as he shook his head, "Sorry folks. We have a bus to catch and Lisa there needs her beauty sleep. Hell, I need my beauty sleep before the baby comes!" At this the crowd laughed again. Mitch made a gesture of submission to the fist Lisa waved in the air. Then Mitch turned back to the mic and continued, "For our last song, we're gonna do something really different for us. To let you really see what BJ can do, we thought we'd do a classic—one we used to do back in the day when we were still in high school." He turned to the rest of the group as he pulled his guitar into position, "You guys ready to rock?" All nodded.

Roy watched as the man he was now positive was his partner shifted slightly, changing positions and settling the sticks into his hands. The lead called, "One two three four" and immediately the drummer began beating out a familiar cadence. Within mere seconds, the bass and guitar joined him as the crowd went wild. Someone screamed, "WIPEOUT!" and Roy recognized the song. He watched, transfixed as the drummer worked his entire layout.

Johnny's hands moved from each drum so fast they were only a blur; the sticks nearly totally invisible. His right knee bounced as his foot beat the bass drum while his left leg operated the Hi-Hat. The lights caught on the symbols and flashed out reflections each time he hit them. Roy could see the grin on his friend's face from where he sat—stunned. Every part of his kinetic partner was moving, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Johnny was in his element. The bass player and lead guitarist exchanged grins as they watched Johnny, happy to see their friend really rockin' it out.

As the song progressed, Johnny's motions became faster, although Roy hadn't thought that possible. The crowd picked up on the generated energy and screamed encouragement as they rocketed to their feet. All too soon, the final beats were hit and the final notes were strummed. The crowd was wild in their cheering. Roy could barely see through the people in front of him as he strained for another look at the drummer.

Roy could see the man's chest heaving with his rapid respirations, saw him wipe a shaky arm across his forehead but even from this distance Roy could also see the dark eyes shining bright and the mega-watt smile on the other man's face. The group took a few bows then turned and left the stage. Instantly Roy was on his feet, one hand clasped around Jo's wrist as he made his way through the crowd.

"Roy! Slow down! Roy!" his wife's protests finally reached his ears and he turned to see her stumble yet again. He stopped and she glared at him as she regained her balance, shoved her bag back up on her shoulder and slowed her breathing. He flushed briefly, "Sorry, I just got . . I just . . ."

She smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder, "You just want to go see if that 'BJ' is your partner. I understand. But Roy, we don't have to run a 40 yard dash to get to him." Roy nodded and headed off again, slower, picking his way through the crowd now.

He was close enough now he could see the workers breaking down the equipment. His gaze searched the area, trying to spot the lanky figure of the dark haired medic among all the bodies moving about in after concert clean-up. Finally, he heard a laugh as familiar to him as his own and headed off in its direction.

Johnny wiped the towel he'd been given by Lisa over his face and neck. He gave her a grateful smile as he took the water she offered next. "Drink BJ." She told him. "I know Mitch always loses about five pounds each concert and most of that is just in sweat. I saw how hard you were working out there and I bet you've lost twice that much." She poked him in the ribs, causing him to jump slightly. "And unlike Mitch, you don't have anything extra to lose!" He chugged the drink, not caring that the liquid overran his mouth and trickled down his chin and his neck. It felt too good. When he finally came up for air, Lisa dabbed at the dribbled water with a giggle. He smiled at her.

"Hey stick boy!" came a loud voice, "You tryin' to make time with my wife?" Johnny faced Mitch with a grin, "I tried, but I think she's too stuck on some crooner." Mitch laughed and slapped his friend's shoulder before clasping his hand tightly.

"That, my friend, was one great concert."

"Yeah, we haven't had that much fun since . . .since . . ." Luke paused trying to think of something.

"Since that show we did at the Shaffer's bar mitzvah?" Johnny teased and both Mitch and Luke burst out in laughter. Lisa rolled her eyes, "Oh, yeah . . . That was a blast . . .not!"

Johnny was still chuckling as he pulled the shirt over his head. He wet one end of the towel he still held and wiped the material over his neck and chest. An elbow bumped him and he looked up to see Vic. The other drummer smiled at him as he handed the paramedic his blue shirt back. Johnny grinned as he put it on, "Hey thanks man. And thanks for lettin' me step into your spot tonight." He tried to hand the quiana shirt back but Vic shook his head and raised a hand. "Keep it man. Consider it a souvenir."

Johnny grinned again and draped the shirt over his shoulder. "Thanks!"

Mitch came up and grabbed Johnny's hand, bumping his shoulder against the paramedic's as he did. "Hey thanks again man, for comin' out here. You really pulled us outta the fire." His other hand reached back around Johnny's back and he slapped him between the shoulder blades.

Johnny grinned and winked at Lisa, "Well, that _**is**_ my job. Rescuing people from fires."

Mitch grinned back, his eyes showing his gratitude. "I know it. And if you're half as good a rescuer as you are on the drums, I know you're damn good at that."

"Oh, I don't know about damn good . .. . Mind you though from what I've seen, he's not really bad at either one, drums or rescue work." Another voice drawled and Johnny spun around, his eyes wide. "Roy! Jo! Uhhhh . . . Hi! I . . . ummm" he sputtered to a halt, not sure what to say at the two who stared at him as they'd never seen anything like him ever before.

Silence covered the group as Lisa, Vic, Mitch and Luke looked from their obviously shocked friend to the man who stood there, pinning the other man with his blue stare and the woman who looked back and forth between them all.

Finally Jo rolled her eyes as she glanced at her husband who still stared at a now fidgeting Johnny as if he'd never seen him before. "Since these two have been rendered speechless," she grumbled good naturedly, "I'll be the polite one and handle the introductions." She held out her hand, "I'm Joanne and this is my husband, Roy DeSoto. Roy is Johnny's paramedic partner."

Mitch now smiled enthusiastically at the couple and stretched out his own hand, "Hey! Cool! I'm Mitch Patterson lead singer for The PCH Cruysers and this is my lovely bride, Lisa. BJ was telling us earlier about his miracle worker of a partner. I'm so glad we did get to meet you."

Jo shook his hand, a little shell-shocked as she realized she was talking with one of her favorite bands. She once thought she'd only be able to listen to them on the radio or records, never did she dream she'd see them in concert and now she was talking with them in person! And about, of all things, her husband and his enigma of a partner. She shook herself and concentrated on what he'd said.

"Miracle worker? My Roy?"

Now Lisa laughed, "Shy BJ gets all glowing when he talks about your husband. He told us yesterday all about how your Roy talked him into becoming a paramedic, then helped him through the training then asked to be his partner."

Jo smiled, she's also seen the way Johnny watched her husband, how he looked to him for approval and guidance. She smiled back at this woman, suddenly feeling a kinship with her. "So, according to what you said on stage, you've known Johnny since high school? Wow!"

Lisa nodded, "Yeap, since he was a scared transfer student into our English class. The boys were all in band together too. I was in choir. Once while they were helping me practice, we got the crazy idea to form a band and well . . ." She shrugged as she looked at the others, "Here we are!"

Roy had finally overcome some of his shock and tilted his head at his partner. "So you're a big rock-n-roll singer. And when were you gonna tell me this, partner?"

Johnny's face reddened as he replied, "I'm not any rock-n-roll singer, Roy." He jerked his head toward his friends, "They are. I'm just the kid they helped out in high school."

"Don't let him fool you." Vic interrupted, "He's every bit a member of the band and tonight should have proved that to him."

Luke and Lisa nodded as Mitch added, "You were with us when we were singing for free and for pennies at birthday parties and in smoky clubs. You were there with us when we cut our first hit record. You are on that, your name's right there in the credits and you know it. Our paths may have divided before we made it big, but never forget you are there with us."

Lisa punched him in the arm, "Yeah, fireboy. Haven't you been listening to us all weekend. Shhesshh!"

Johnny ducked his head as he rubbed his arm, "Ok, Ok, I get it, I get it."

"And don't you ever forget it, BJ!" Mitch said.

"BJ. Why do you call Johnny BJ?" Roy asked. John made a strangled sound as Lisa answered, her eyes twinkling. "That's the fault of our high school English teacher; she gave him that nickname. She said she had too many 'Johns' in her class and couldn't keep them straight. So John Hoffman became 'John', John Williams was already known as 'Johnny', John Thomas became 'Tom' and John Gage became 'BJ' as in 'Baby John' because he was the youngest."

They all laughed as Johnny's tanned face darkened with his blush. Behind them the bus doors opened and Sal hollered out, "Come on guys we gotta be in Seattle in three days! He grinned at Johnny as he added, "There's still room for one more, BJ!"

Johnny waved back, "No thanks, I kinda like it here."

Sal nodded "Any time, man, anytime." He disappeared back into the bus. Vic reached out and clasped Johnny's hand. "You name the place, and we'll have another set of drums on stage and waiting for you, man."

Johnny nodded, "Thanks man. I appreciate it."

Vic touched the bandage on his head, "Not as much as I do, man, not as much as me." He waved one last time as he stepped into the bus.

"Com' here, little cousin." Luke growled as he reached out and dragged Johnny into a one armed hug. Johnny let out a 'ommphh' and a squeak as he all but disappeared into the larger man's chest. "Breathing! Luke! Breathing good!" He gasped and laughing Luke released his friend. Johnny took exaggerated breaths as Luke laughed. "You're just too skinny, BJ, you need to haul more hose or something'"

"I'll suggest that to Cap next shift," Roy drawled. Johnny rolled his eyes. "Great," he grumbled, "Just what I need."

Luke laughed again, grabbed Roy's hand in a strong handshake as he said, "Take care of him for us, ok? If he's like he was back then, trouble just seems to follow him."

Roy nodded, "Still does."

Luke looked at Jo, their eyes meeting and unspoken communication passed between them. Jo blinked, a little surprised. She saw the worry coupled with a sense of passing on responsibility in those dark eyes. She instinctively knew that the big man was asking her to look out for his friend, something she found herself more than willing to do. She looked at Johnny and Luke could see the affection in her eyes. He smiled and nodded. "It's been really great meeting you. Hopefully, we'll get to see you again. Maybe even have a longer visit next time."

Jo nodded, 'We'd like that. Any friends of Johnny's are welcome at our house." Luke gave Johnny one last slap on the back, knocking him nearly off his feet, then still chuckling, he, too, stepped into the bus.

Sal reappeared, looking pointedly at his watch, "Mitch baby, come on man. Time! Time!"

Mitch rolled his eyes, "Ahh, the price of fame; we never get to stay in one place long."

"Well we better land in one place for a while," Lisa grumbled as she rubbed her belly, "I refuse to have this young one in that bus. I spend too much time in there as it is. I want a nice soft hospital bed with a real doctor and nurses and a cart full of drugs for this birth."

Johnny feigned shock. "Why Lisa!" He gasped, "In high school you were a big advocate of doing it all natural, you know like the Indians and the Africans tribefolk do."

Lisa punched him none to gently again in the arm, "That was before I watched my best friend go through two days of labor." She emphatically shook her head, "Uh uh, no way, not me man, not cool, not cool at all."

Jo nodded at her, her eyes sympathetic as the guys all laughed.

"BJ, if you ever get tired of running into fires, give me a call. Anytime; anywhere, man." Mitch again clasped his friend's hand, his eyes sparkling. Johnny grinned back, his own eyes as bright, "You know it man, And hey, you two, don't be strangers. You know where I am." He nodded toward Lisa's protruding belly, "And if you're in the area and need me . . ."

Lisa laughed, "I know. Call Squad 51 but only the A shift." She leaned forward and placed a kiss on Johnny's cheek. "I'll make sure we stay in touch, BJ. You know Mitch, he'd be lost without my directing him." He nodded; he did know how much they both depended on each other. Just like he saw between Roy and Jo; it was as he thought it should be with a couple and what he longed to have himself one day. With a final wave, the couple climbed aboard the bus and it slowly pulled out.

Johnny watched until the taillights had disappeared and let out a heavy sigh. Strangely, he found himself feeling a little lonely at the moment, but that passed as he felt a soft arm entwine with his. He looked down into a pair of bright green eyes and smiled. "They'll be back someday, Johnny." She softly told him as she briefly rested her head against his arm, "And until then you have us."

He nodded and squeezed her hand where it rested on his bicep. He turned then and faced his partner whose face still held a look of unbelief. Johnny tilted his head and asked, "Roy?"

Roy shook his own head. Johnny's face took on a more puzzled expression. "Roy? Something wrong?"

"You."

Johnny placed his hand on his chest as he squeaked, "Me? What do you mean 'me'? What's wrong with 'me'?"

Roy rolled his eyes and shook his head again. "Partner, you never cease to amaze me,"

Johnny looked at him and blinked. "Why's that?"

Roy punched him in the same spot Lisa had, grinning as Johnny mouthed 'Oww' and rubbed the area before the senior paramedic continued, "You! A drummer in a big named band??"

"You knew I was a drummer." Johnny looked puzzled.

Roy emphatically shook his head, "No junior, I knew you drummed on things, usually the squad's dash. That's not the same thing."

Johnny shrugged, "Well, it's not something that was easy to slip into our everyday conversations. Roy, Rampart says IV ringers TKO and oh by the way, I used to be a rock star before I became a rescue man."

A burst of laughter broke out of Jo and Johnny grinned at her, causing the laughter to increase. Roy, however, just sighed that long-suffering sigh. As he did, Roy realized maybe he didn't have Johnny all figured out into a nice neat package. A part of him dreaded that he might never fully understand this man/child he'd taken as his partner. His look as he stared at Johnny was a mixture then of horror, respect and resignation.

"Just what do you mean by that?" Roy couldn't stop the words that burst from him. He like his nice neatly ordered world but that feeling of dread inside told him that as long as Johnny was around, he might never see it again. Part of him felt trepidation over it, and yet that part that had felt that glow of protectiveness the other morning looked forward to it. "How many other surprises do you have hidden away? Are you a prince or something incognito?"

"No, Roy. Nothing like that.' He rolled his eyes as he tried to think of the words to explain. "I'm just me, nothing special, no one special. Drumming is part of who I am, just like being a runner and being a rescue man." Johnny looked at his partner, saw the way he was looking at him and remembered his own inner conversation the day before. It was time to let others into his inner circle and he might as well start now.

He gave a shrug. "I can't really help it. It's the rhythm. I guess you could blame it on blood though." He said, his eyes twinkling. Jo stifled a giggle and he winked at her.

Roy, however, looked suspiciously at him. "Blood, you say."

Johnny nodded.

Roy glanced at his wife, noted her hand over her mouth and her failure to smother her constant giggles, then looked back at his partner, one eyebrow cocked in his consternation.

"Ok, junior, I'll bite. Just what does blood have to do with it?"

Johnny shrugged, "I'm Indian."

Roy knew somehow he was swallowing a hook but he couldn't for the life of him see where this was heading so with a patient sigh, he replied. "Yes. I figured out you're Indian. What does that have to do with it?"

"Us Indians have always had good rhythm." he smirked. "It's all in the blood." With that, he slightly hunched his body, straightened his arms and extended them slightly out from his body. At the same time, his voice lifted in a sing-song chant while his feet rapidly moved in the traditional steps of a tribal dance. Then he began to rapidly spin, his shoulders slightly tilted so his arms resembled the wings of a soaring bird. In that instant, Roy had a flash of his partner dressed in deerskins; with braided hair, decorated feathers and beads flying around his lithe body. Without breaking rhythm, Johnny smoothly straightened up, shoved his hands in his pockets and walked jauntily away, whistling.

Roy blinked and shook his head as the image of a traditionally outfitted warrior was replaced by the familiar figure of his partner sauntering away. Johnny stopped, glanced back over his shoulder and gave a Gage grin. "Hey! I'm hungry! Let's go already!"

Jo laughed and followed him while Roy still stood, too shocked to move. Then he shook himself, and shaking his head followed after them, muttering again, "Partner, you never ceased to confound me." '_Just when I think I know him so well_,' he thought. Then he realized Johnny and Jo were leaving him behind, and Jo had the keys. "Hey. Hey! Wait up! Johnny! Jo? JOHNNY!" He broke out in a run as he heard his partner's laughter ring through the night air.

Epilogue

Monday morning found A-shift straggling in to an empty fire station. Both the squad and engine were still out on an early morning run. So, as each man dressed, they headed into the kitchen for a cup of firefighter's sustenance.

Johnny was the last man into the locker room and quickly changed. As he was finishing up, he was surprised when Mike Stoker walked over to him, a smile on his face. Johnny looked up from where he sat on the bench, removing his tennis shoes. "Mike?" He asked.

Mike's smile grew bigger and he clasped his shiftmate's shoulder, "Good Job, Johnny."

Johnny blinked, his dark eyes showing his bewilderment, "Uh, gee, thanks?"

Mike tightened his hand as he walked past. Before he left the room, he turned around and spoke again, "I always liked your version of _Naked Hearts_ better that Vic's." With that, he exited, leaving a wide-eyed, fast breathing, paramedic behind.

Marco looked up at Roy as the senior paramedic entered the kitchen and smiled, "Hey Roy! So how was your weekend?

Roy shrugged, "Saturday and Monday were normal; sleeping, chores, playing with the kids."

"So predictable huh?" Chet asked. But to his surprise, Roy screwed up his face, "No, hardly predictable. Sunday. Now Sunday was full of surprises.

He looked around, seeing he had the attention of each man in the room now added, "Jo won free tickets to that big charity concert they held in Blazdell. We spent most of Sunday there."

"Was it good?" Chet asked, interested. "I tried to get tickets but couldn't. I really woulda've like to have been there. PCH doesn't often get back here and I really wanted to hear them."

"I'd heard they were sold out like months ago." Mike added as he glanced up from the paper he was reading.

"Yeah, it was pretty crowded. The music was alright, I guess. I'm not really into that kind of thing. Jo liked it though. She's a big fan of some group that played." Roy said.

"Good morning, good morning, good morning!" Johnny announced as he bounced into the kitchen. He slapped his partner's back as he passed, nearly making him choke on his coffee.

"Oops, sorry 'bout that." He giggled as he headed toward the pot to pour his own drink.

Roy looked at him and shook his head.

"So what did you do this weekend, Gage? Lie around the house in your shorts, wishing you had some kinda life?" Chet chuckled to himself over the thought.

"No," Johnny glared at the mustached man before he turned back to the pot. He poured himself a coffee and pulling out a chair next to his partner, sat down. "For your information, Chet, I had a very busy weekend. I met up with some old friends, preformed a rescue on some celebrities in both a diner and in the park and finished off the weekend by playing a concert with a rock band." Johnny said with a hint of a smile as he fondly remembered his weekend and sipped his coffee. Roy rolled his eyes at his partner's words and Johnny gave a muffled snort as Roy elbowed him.

Chet stared at him for a few seconds then burst out laughing, "Right Gage, Sure you did. Not even in your most delusional dreams, man." He laughed harder at the look Johnny threw at him. "I bet you spent the entire weekend alone in your pathetically tiny apartment and the only concert you played was along with your radio." He tried to get a handle on his laughter as he took a drink. "I gotta admit, Gage, you can make up whoppers. Too bad you can't catch any!"

Johnny's brows turned downward and his lips pulled into a thin line. "Fat lot you know, Chet." He muttered as he emptied his cup and left the kitchen.

Chet turned to the others, pointing his finger in the direction where Johnny had disappeared. "Can you believe him? What a load of BS!"

"Chet, after nearly two years at this station, if you've learned one thing about Johnny it should be that he doesn't lie." Roy reprimanded as he, too, left the kitchen.

Chet scoffed, "Yeah right. I'll tell you the one thing I have learned, and that's that Roy will always take Gagey-boy's side even when he _is_ lying through his teeth."

"Oh really?" Mike said as he laid the entertainment section of the paper in front of Chet. Chet's eyes were drawn first to a picture of a dark haired man partially visible sitting behind a set of drums, then he read the caption. "_Mystery Drummer Pitch Hits For Injured Kimmel."_

He looked up and said, "So?"

"Read the rest," He told the Irishman before he, too, walked out. Chet shrugged and started reading the article out loud. "Victor Kimmel, drummer for The PCH Cruysers, missed playing with his fellow band members for the Radnor Charity concert on Sunday due to a minor injury suffered during a practice session on Saturday. Aid was immediately rendered by an off duty paramedic, according to eyewitnesses, before Paramedics arrived on scene. Kimmel was quickly taken to Rampart General Hospital where he spent the night. Sources say he will be sufficiently recovered to finish the rest of PCH's scheduled eight city tour.

However, what most want to know was, who was the incredible drummer who did play the concert in Kimmel's place? Although lead singer Mitch Patterson hinted that the substitute had been with the band when it first started, referred to him as "BJ" and made a reference to the drummer being a member of LA County's Fire Department, no further information was given and none of this would be confirmed by official sources.

Whoever he was, those that got to hear the concert were treated to a rare performance of vintage PCH with a flair that hasn't been heard in their music since their first record. A wonderful treat, well worth the ticket price."

Chet finished and exchange looks with Marco before both leaned in closer to scrutinized the picture, then turned—wide eyed in disbelief—toward the bay where they could hear someone tapping a fast rhythm on the squad's compartment door.

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Author notes. Hope you liked it. The story about the rhythm-less drummer is true, he was in my son's school band. The daydream I had came while listening to a station that only played songs from the '60's and 70's. When I heard _Wipeout_, I could suddenly see Johnny Gage playing the drums. The story came from there.


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